Xiao Xiao

Blocks of white marble from a Greek quarry are shipped to China, where sculptors turn them into Hellenistic-style statues and columns. The leftover grit is processed into fridge magnets and other souvenirs, which are returned to Europe and sold to Chinese tourists.

In a remote mountain village, the lives of three generations of a family are defined by hardship and loss. The aging grandmother fears death while her son struggles to find work and becomes increasingly anxious and impoverished. Meanwhile, her grandson returns from the city to start a chicken farming business, only to fail and go into debt. The village, named after a mythical rock representing a fallen turtle, seems to bind its inhabitants to a shared destiny of defeat and struggle.