Produced by Wang Yang (Present.Perfect., MIFF 2019; Ms. Yang) and Palme d’Or winner Qiu Yang (She Runs, MIFF 2019; A Gentle Night, MIFF 2017), Lili Alone is a beautifully mournful story about one woman’s sacrifice.

Selected for Critics’ Week at Cannes, Zou Jing’s accomplished debut is a patient, powerful character study that follows its protagonist from an impoverished segment of Sichuan to the big city, where she takes up a job as a surrogate. Portraying one woman’s deep love for her dying father and disadvantaged son, and the tough choices she makes for their welfare, Lili Alone is heartbreaking and life-affirming in equal measure – a feat achieved in large part thanks to Huang Lili’s multidimensional, empathetic central performance.