Ge Ge (Brother)

Running time: N/A

United States Premiere Winner - FIPRESCI (International Film Critics' Federation) Prize at the 25th Hong Kong Film Festival. Three years ago, Tam received a postcard from his older brother, sent from a village in the westernmost reaches of the Qinghai highlands on the Tibetan border. Since then, nothing. Now, Tam's decided to leave Hong Kong to find his brother, but what starts off as a search for his loved one becomes much more; and what Tam finds (and doesn't find) and learns reveals much more than simply the whereabouts of a peripatetic sibling. Made with a minimal budget and crew, shooting on digital tape and Super-8 film, and using local non-actors in the leading roles, for her first feature film, 28-year-old director Yan Yan Mak, (production manager on Wong Kar-wai's In the Mood for Love), has taken the concept of maverick filmmaking to a new, higher, more sublime level. Beautifully shot-the breathtaking beauty of this vast land is captured with a sober and tranquil lens-and filled with wonderful, memorable characters, Ge Ge is a film that will stay with viewers a long time afterwards. Reviewed by Charlie Cockey