LEAFF: UK Premiere: Stars Await Us12A

It’s the 1990s. The USSR has collapsed and Ma Biao returns home after time in prison, to a small town occupying a hinterland between China and Russia. His reason for returning is to see Karinna, his love. But she appears to have left. Nevertheless, Ma Biao seems to find traces of her in the women he encounters and the places he visits. In particular, he is reminded of his relationship by young couple Wei and Xixi. Wei has fallen foul of a local gangster and so Ma Biao takes it upon himself to shield his new acquaintance, while putting some old grudges to rest. But the ghosts from the past are not that easy to eradicate, like the woman he loves. Dalei Zhang’s atmospheric film makes much use of its seemingly timeless location to capture the forlorn nature of a lost love.