Mistress Dispeller ⎪ BIDF
Watch the trailer In China, a new industry has emerged devoted to helping couples stay married in the face of infidelity. Wang Zhenxi is part of this growing profession, a “mistress dispeller” who is hired to maintain the bounds of marriage — and break up affairs — by any means necessary. MISTRESS DISPELLER follows a real, unfolding case of infidelity as Teacher Wang attempts to bring a couple back from the edge of crisis, offering strikingly intimate access to private lives usually hidden behind closed doors. Their story shifts our sympathies between husband, wife and mistress to explore the ways emotion, pragmatism and cultural norms collide to shape romantic relationships in contemporary China.
Awards & Nominations: 2024 Venice Film Festival – Best Director Under 40 & NETPAC Awards 2024 Toronto International Film Festival – TIFF Docs 2024 Camden International Film Festival – Special Mention Zurich Film Festival 2024 – Documentary Competition 35th New Orleans Film Festival – Documentary Feature Award Winner SFFilm Doc Stories 2024 – Official Selection 2024 New Hampshire Film Festival – Grand Jury Award Documentary 60th Chicago International Film Festival 2024 – Gold Hugo Documentary 34rd Message to Man Festival 2024 – Panorama.doc El Gouna Film Festival 2024 – Feature Documentary Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival 2024 – Critic’s Choice Grand Jury Special Mention Doc Nyc 2024 – Official Selection Denver Film Festival 2024 – Maysles Brothers Award for Best Documentary QCinema International Film Festival 2024 – Best Director
→ The film on IMDb