THE BREAKING ICE

In cold wintry Yanji, a city on China’s northern border, young urbanite Haofeng, visiting from Shanghai, feels lost and adrift. By chance, he goes on a tour led by Nana, a charming tour guide who instantly fascinates him. She introduces him to Xiao, a personable but frustrated restaurant worker. The three bond quickly over a drunken weekend. Confronting their individual traumas, their frozen desires slowly thaw as they seek to liberate themselves from an icy world. Singaporean director Anthony Chen continues his globetrotting career with this compelling Generation Z drama with an unusual love triangle develops among three friends against the icy beauty of northeast China and the Changbai Mountain. HIFF43 is also screening his Greece-set refugee drama DRIFT, which premiered at Sundance earlier this year.