“"Mama" is perhaps the first word to be uttered, which can cross different regions, eras, cultures and even races with countless studies on it. The two-syllable word with a simple pronunciation reflects the most complicated philosophical concept in human history. In the film The Family, the adopted child and the mother find themselves in the dilemma. The child is often reminded that he does not belong to this family, while the mother’s emotional instinct has also been restricted by the cold laws. Although they have no choice but to cut off the mother-child ties, they are still a family in a real sense.  

It’s said that the cuckoo can feed the fledglings in a fair manner which was described by a scholar in ancient China in his book. Facing so many children, the parents may not treat their kids in the same way to that of the cuckoos, but their love is so heavy that it’s impossible to be measured. The film In Search of Lost Time is adapted from the historical event of "three thousand orphans entering Inner Mongolia" which occurred during the period of natural disaster in China. Standing before the "children of the nation", the herdsmen in Inner Mongolia opened their arms just like the vast grassland. When they're holding these kids tightly in the arms, it’s impossible to tell whether the love makes a difference since it’s the philanthropy immeasurable just like the mountains and rivers. 

he prosperity of metropolitan culture and the acceleration of modernization have brought about the diversification of families. When family members are closely connected no longer identified only based on the blood, affinity or adoptive relationship, those united around common interests, ideals and goals will bring a new interpretation to the term of family. In the film Call Jane, all the women have no blood relationship since they come from different social classes with different backgrounds, ages and appearances. However, they are proud to be women and set up a mutual aid organization based on their original identities. Facing another unfair sentence, they rise up and fight for themselves. The moment they are born woman, they own a big family of more than 3 billion members. 

The Indian film Jai Bhim shifts the camera away from the splendid dance floor in the palace and places it directly into the earth to record another India from the perspective of the grassroots instead of looking down from a bird's eyes. A verdict on the defense of justice is being carried on there. Facing the heaviness behind the history, the film does not choose to translate the truth into images word for word. Instead, it adopts the expression of genre films to attract the audience with the strong image expression and excellent narrative structure. The significance of the verdict will not be remembered to the greatest extent unless the audience can really witness the contest of human nature. The force of authenticity will never be weakened by the change of forms. 

The Turkish film Anatolian Leopard combines the black comedy and the globalized allegory to use the oldest zoo in the city as an entry to Turkey. With the slow-film brushstrokes, highly stylized narration and visual expression, it presents a film full of metaphors and strange temperament. The Anatolian leopard, which can save the zoo crisis but disappears, has been extinct since 1974. And its absence in the film conveys a national melancholy against the backdrop of the urban landscape of Turkey in transition period. However, the Anatolian leopard is found again in 2022. What an ingenious intertextual relationship between the art and the reality! 

The Thai film Bad Genius produced in the way of shootout to reflect the exam cheating has once brought the audience an unprecedented novel experience with the bold and innovative strategy. However, The Exam, which also tells the story of cheating in exams, adopts the same strategy to further reflect the core of social reality. Two sisters, who are trapped in the predicament with nowhere to escape, have to go further along the wrong road. Every cheating in the exam seems to light the bomb hidden under the table in front of the audience. The time is visualized and each breath becomes so extraordinarily exciting that the adrenaline beats with the blood vessels along with the rhythm of the film. When the clock hands overlap and the exam draws over, what awaits the sisters at the end of the wrong way is the moment of silence while what awaits the audience is a still photo of the country of Iraq. 

When the tradition of academism joins hands with the “New Tide in Tibetan Areas”, what kind of sparks will be ignited? The film Kong and Jigme directed by Chen Guoxing and Lhapal Gyal may answer this question. The story takes place in Shigatse, Tibet where Galsang flowers and Guozhuang dance as well as wolf barks and music are mixed together to reflect the vitality of daily life. Old Kong comes afar in his youth with a sincere heart and a pair of feet to cover every inch of the land. He forges a deep friendship with Jigme and the world has witnessed all their contributions to this land and the people there. The film conducts a brand-new exploration of Tibetan narration to not only show the unique humanistic scenery in Tibet but also focus on the expression of real emotions rather than the monotonous narration of the deeds by the characters, so as to avoid the spectacle intention from the perspective of the outsiders while further expand the construction scope of Tibetan narration. From the creator to the characters then to the aesthetics, the rhythm is very harmonious with the true feelings blended with a type of unique sense of poetry. 

Unrest should be regarded as the one with the strongest festival temperament among all the shortlisted films for “Tiantan Award” this year. The film tells the story of a small town specializing in watch manufacturing in Switzerland. All the people are working and living based on the strict schedules, so that their limbs and expressions in the factory seem to be slightly rigid. Many decentralized panoramas and fixed cameras make them assembled with everything around. The film explores the complicated unequal relationship between the factory and the residents in such a pure visual language, which perfectly integrates the form and the text just like the parts of a watch. 

The satirical film The Good Boss, which won six honors at the 36th Goya Awards at the Spanish Film Academy in 2022, plays the black humor to the extreme. The film is named The Good Boss, but it actually refers to the opposite meaning. Blanco, the owner of the Balance Factory, claims himself to be fair and kindhearted. However, he plays a lot of tricks to deal with various emergencies so as to win the Outstanding Enterprise Award. Unfortunately, more and more "dissonance factors" arise, which seems to make him hard to deal with just like the model at the gate of the factory which can never be balanced. According to the mythology, God creates man in seven days, the smallest cycle in the calendar inherently containing the power of cyclical replacement, so the director chooses seven days as the seven chapters. Blanco finally keeps his honor of "good boss" after many crises and his way of balance seems to win in the end. However, there’s no eternal beauty after the seven-day genesis; instead, it’s the beginning of crisis and suffering, just like the bullet under the model at the factory gate. Behind the temporary balance hides the real test for this "good boss". 

The film Sardar Udham based on true story takes audiences back to the historical scene of Lord Michael O'Dwyer’s assassination by Udham Singh. From Jallianwala Bagh in Punjab to London, when Udham Singh sets foot on a foreign land to start revolution as a survivor of the tragedy, he embarks on a 21-year journey for revenge. Facing such a heavy theme and history, the film chooses flashback as the track to return to the past. The camera looks like a train of time to pull us back to witness the history. The interrogations against Singh are cut into pieces and embedded in the film to serve as the key anchor for representing the historical situation, portraying the characters and attracting the audience into the film.