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

  • Philadelphia Film Festival 2019
    – Best Documentary Feature

    EBS International Documentary Festival 2019
    – Special Jury Award

    DocAviv 2019
    – Best Editing
    – Best Directing

    Tribeca 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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