"Huo Meng’s extraordinary second feature about countryside and country on the precipice of change... [is] extremely handsome and involving...." - IndieWire
"There’s a patient, plainspoken poetry... to Living the Land, a rolling rural drama that... feels wholly, organically observed, as if its storytelling were dictated by the rigors and challenges of seasons and soil. Impressive." - Variety
Opens April 24 | Winner of the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 2025 Berlin Film Festival, Chinese filmmaker Huo Meng’s elliptical and elegant sophomore feature is equal parts coming-of-age tale and epic portrait of provincial life. Xu Chuang the third-born child of a farming family, is unceremoniously left with his uncle in the village of Bawangtai when his parents and older siblings set out to find work in the Southern city of Shenzhen. Siskel Film Center exclusive.
Awards & Nominations
Winner, Silver Bear for Best Director - Berlin Film Festival
The Film Center is ADA accessible. This presentation will be projected without open captions. The theater is hearing-loop equipped. For accessibility requests, please email filmcenter@saic.edu