Land of Burning Ice

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Creative Statement

This is a story about parents who give birth to children but do not raise them. Our two protagonists, a female prosecutor and a juvenile offender, each try in their own way to heal the harm done by their families. Two eras and two storylines run in parallel and cross, like two time-spaces that never fully close. This structure is not there for show: it serves our theme that similar tragedies happen in every era, and asks when people will reflect on themselves. We chose to shoot where desert, Gobi, grassland and salt mines meet, not for visual spectacle, but to convey the film's mood of despair with a trace of warmth.

Synopsis

Fang Jianqing is a public prosecutor. Years ago, her mother's first pregnancy was a boy, and the whole family was excited; her father named the unborn child "Fang Jianqing". Then, while crossing the desert, her mother was caught in a severe sandstorm. The road to the hospital was cut off, and she lost the baby. In memory of the first child, the name "Fang Jianqing" was passed on to the second child, even though she was a girl. Growing up with this name, Fang Jianqing behaved more like a boy. She kept her hair cropped short and preferred uniforms to dresses. Young as she was, she sensed that this might win her father's affection. The new life brought joy and hope to the family, but a shadow always hung over it. Guilty about the child they lost, her parents felt they did not deserve happiness. Their only redemption was to build a road across the desert, so that no one else would be buried in this "sea of death". They left Fang Jianqing with her grandmother, and she became a "left-behind child" in every sense. Searching for her father as a child left a deep mark on Fang Jianqing. In the college entrance exam she gave up the popular field of finance and chose law, determined to become a prosecutor, punish the wrongs of this world and uphold justice. At work, she takes on a juvenile offender and puts all her care into helping him, not knowing that a shocking secret lies behind him...

Genre:

Mystery, Drama

Director:

Xian Xuchu

Screenwriter:

Su Yang

Producer:

Wang Nan

Production Company:

Kaihua Pictures

Executive Producer:

Zhou Qiang

About the Director

Xian Xuchu: Born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. Director, screenwriter and film developer working mainly in crime, mystery and science fiction. His work covers music videos, commercials and films. He has shot music videos for Li Jian, Tan Weiwei, Zhou Bichang, Wang Feng, Ma Tianyu, Xu Fei and other singers, which have been featured on music video charts in China and abroad. He entered filmmaking in 2011; the two films he directed, Deadly Flash and Strange Tales, were released in 2013 and 2015. From 2016 to 2019 he worked on the development of film and television projects including Shadow, Undercurrent, Sandstorm, The Cliff and Alien Walker.

About the Screenwriter

Su Yang: Graduated from the Central Academy of Drama, majoring in Dramatic, Film and Television Literature. Films: My Old Classmate's Bunk Bed, Sleep With Me Soon, Promise You and Bestie War, among others. Series: Thorn, My Old Classmate's Bunk Bed and The Most Unfamiliar Family, among others. Publication: the novel My Old Classmate's Bunk Bed (a tie-in novel based on the web series of the same name). He won the Best Creative Film Screenplay Award of the Xia Yan Cup in 2015 and the Best Film Screenplay Award of the Beijing Film Association Cup in 2017.

About the Producer

Wang Nan: Since 2013 she has worked at Herun Pictures (Kaihua Pictures) as production director and producer. After joining Kaihua and Herun Pictures in 2013, she worked on project development and production, led the publicity for films including Deadly Flash, Lost in the Last Moment and Strange Tales, and produced Hello, Waiter, Youth Never Returns, Phantom of the Theatre, Backlight and Punch, Mom, as well as the online film series Ip Man and Something Is Going On in the Village.

About the Production Company

Kaihua Pictures: A film and television content company focused on production and on bringing industry resources together. Its founder and core team have produced and invested in a number of films and series. The company works mainly on theatrical films while developing in several directions. Projects it has invested in and produced include Strange Tales, Lost in the Last Moment, Youth Never Returns, Phantom of the Theatre, In the Name of the Father and The Cliff (an award-winning project at the project market of the 8th Beijing International Film Festival in 2018, to be released soon), and the web series and online films Original Sin, the Young Ip Man series and the Something Is Going On in the Village series.

About the Executive Producer

Zhou Qiang: A veteran Chinese-language film producer who has produced and developed more than 40 films, including Still Life, Perfect Life, Cow, Uniform, Plastic City, Mr. Tree, The Poet and Mr. No Problem. He has worked with directors including Jia Zhangke, Emily Tang, Yu Lik-wai, Guan Hu, Han Jie, Diao Yinan and Mei Feng. His films have been selected and awarded at international film festivals many times.

Logline

A composed prosecutor, a young man who has gone astray, a long-buried grievance, and a warm story of mutual redemption.