Leftover Women
2019 • 84’ • Israel
‘Leftover Women’ is how the Chinese government describes educated, cosmopolitan women who are not married and settled by the time they reach their mid-twenties. Through marriage markets, matchmakers, and government-sponsored dating events, the film follows three hopeful singles who, under immense pressure, are determined to find love on their own terms.
Directors:
Shosh Shlam, Hilla Medalia
Producers:
Hilla Medalia, Shosh Shlam
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Philadelphia Film Festival 2019
– Best Documentary FeatureEBS International Documentary Festival 2019
– Special Jury AwardDocAviv 2019
– Best Editing
– Best DirectingTribeca Film Festival 2019 [World Premiere]
– Best Documentary Feature [Nominee]Göteborg Film Festival 2019
Hot Docs 2019
Sydney Film Festival 2019
Shanghai International Film Festival 2019
New Zealand International Film Festival 2019
Melbourne International Film Festival 2019
Monterrey Film Festival 2019
Bergen International Film Festival 2019
Film Festival for Women’s Rights Korea 2019
Heartland International Film Festival 2019
Over-the-Rhine International Film Festival 2019
Guth Gafa International Documentary Film Festival 2019
Rocky Mountain Women’s Film Festival 2019
Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival 2019
Mondovisioni (touring festival) 2019
Göteborg Film Festival 2020
Palm Springs International Film Festival 2020
Budapest International Documentary Festival 2020
DocPoint Tallinn Documentary Film Festival 2020
Human Rights Film Festival – Amsterdam 2020
Human Rights Film Festival – London 2020
One World 2020
Festival Millenium 2020 -
“Startling.” “Subversive.”
— The Atlantic“Affecting.”
— Entrepreneur“An emotionally complex piece of personal portraiture that intimately reveals the extent to which traditional attitudes still dominate Chinese society regardless of its globalized surface.”
— Screen Daily“Leftover Women begins to feel less like a documentary and more like a heart-breaking character study.”— The Pop Break
“Captivating viewing that demands we think with intelligence and compassion of a world beyond our own experience.”— The Blue Lenses
“Films such as the Leftover Women remind viewers that the fight for equality is not a problem confined to one country or community, but rather the world.”— Film Inquiry
Filmmaker’s Biography
Shosh Shlam is an award winning director and producer, whose critically acclaimed documentaries have been screened internationally in theaters and on television including BBC, ARTE, ZDF, PBS. Her work combines sensitive intimate observation of human nature with a deep research and social criticism. Shosh's films, among others, include Web Junkie (2014; Sundance film festival, CPH, POV, BBC), Leftover Women (2019; Tribeca film festival, Hot Docs, DocAviv – won an award for best director and best editor, Independent Lens, Arte).
Hilla Medalia is a Peabody Award-winning filmmaker and a four-time Emmy nominee. Her projects have garnered critical acclaim and screened internationally in theaters and on TV including HBO, MTV, BBC, and ARTE. Among her range of titles include, TO DIE IN JERUSALEM (2007, HBO), AFTER THE STORM (2009, MTV), NUMBERED (2012, ARTE), DANCING IN JAFFA (2013, Tribeca, IFC Sundance), WEB JUNKIE (2014, Sundance, POV for PBS, BBC), THE GO GO BOYS (2014, Cannes), CENSORED VOICES (2015, Sundance, Berlinale), MUHI – GENERALLY TEMPORARY (2017, San Francisco FF, HotDocs, AFI, Docaviv), and THE OSLO DIARIES (2018, HBO, ARTE, Sundance). Hilla holds an MA from Southern Illinois University.
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