Her Echo

Creative Statement

A journey of renewal through sound, memory and reconciliation. Qu Manyue, a 35-year-old sound recordist working in Beijing who has lost both her job and her marriage, is troubled by strange sounds she keeps hearing. While recovering in her hometown she meets an 'intruder' in her life: the mysterious teenage girl Xiaoqiu. Bound by a strange connection, the two set out to find the source of the echo, and through encounters with different women they heal and embrace the future.

Genre:

Fantasy, Music

Director:

Ma Shiman

Screenwriter:

Ma Shiman, Fan Jiuwei

Producer:

Zheng Liyan, Dong Chao

Production Company:

N/A

About the Director

Ma Shiman: Young director, screenwriter and musician. Bachelor's degree in sound directing and master's degree from the Department of Music at the Communication University of China. Studied filmmaking on exchange at the New York Film Academy. The debut feature as director and screenwriter, The Old Wall, won Best Feature at the 2022 Frankfurt International Film Festival and the Red Maple Leaf Jury Award and Best Emerging Director at the 9th Vancouver Chinese Film Festival, among others. The Last Tribe won second prize for Micro Film of the Year at the 2014 Golden Angel Awards of the Chinese American Film Festival. Her Echo was a top 10 project at the 15th Beijing International Film Festival project market and won the Outstanding Screenplay Award. Other works: sound recording for the film Child, Dog (Singapore), and original songs including the closing song of The Old Wall (title garbled in the source) and Ten Years of Theatre.

About the Producer

Zheng Liyan: Producer and screenwriter. Studied in the Department of Film Studies at the Beijing Film Academy; master's degree in management from Massey University in New Zealand. Previously worked at Bad Monkey Pictures and Wanda Pictures. Executive producer of Second-Hand Masterpiece, and worked on the development and production of the films Crazy Alien, My People, My Homeland, Sunshine Envoy and Wind in the Sky. Dong Chao: Founder of Zhengteng Pictures; distributor and producer. Selected works: Paths of the Soul, Twenty Two, 1950: They Were Young (Best Documentary at the 35th China Golden Rooster Awards), Gone with the Boat (nominated for Best Small and Medium-Budget Feature Film at the 37th China Golden Rooster Awards), Swimming in the Sea of People and Night Is Falling.

About the Screenwriter

Ma Shiman: Director, screenwriter and musician. The debut feature as director and screenwriter, The Old Wall, won Best Feature at the 2022 Frankfurt International Film Festival and the Red Maple Leaf Jury Award and Best Emerging Director at the 9th Vancouver Chinese Film Festival, among others. Her Echo was a top 10 project at the 15th Beijing International Film Festival project market and won the Outstanding Screenplay Award, and was a Special Attention Project in the Main Project Section of the 2025 Golden Rooster Films Project Market. Fan Jiuwei (co-writer): Former literary editor at a publishing house and former journalist. Screenwriting credits: the film Lobster Cop, the web series I Love You and the short film Bird Talk.