CPH:DOX 2026: Whispers in May (dir. Dongnan Chen) | Review
In rural China, Dongnan Chen crafts a luminous, delicately poetic film about young girls whom life compels to grow up a little too soon.
Qihuo was born in the Liangshan mountains, in the south of China’s Sichuan province. At barely fifteen years old and the eldest of her siblings, she must look after her sisters and the family land while her mother works in a factory in the valley. The young girl is under intense family pressure, as her mother is actively seeking to marry her off so she can begin providing for the family’s needs. Qihuo finds herself left to her own devices when her first period arrives, able to count only on the support of her two friends, to whom she modestly confesses her entry into adulthood. This is how Whispers in May, by Chinese director Dongnan Chen, opens; the film had its world premiere at CPH:DOX 2026 in the DOX:AWARD section.
The trio then sets out to find a new dress for Qihuo – the traditional attire worn by Yi women during their coming-of-age ceremony. In the aisles of the nearest village market, they longingly brush against the shimmering, brightly colored finery. Away from family demands, they allow themselves to dream, for a moment, of a happy future. On the advice of a shopkeeper, the three friends set off toward Buxte, a town in a neighboring valley where most of the region’s dresses are made. It is a bold multi-day journey undertaken on foot, symbolizing their path toward maturity.
The director, who follows them throughout this journey while capturing scenes that are at times very intimate and difficult, succeeds in maintaining an appropriate distance, without the camera’s presence being felt within the trio. Dongnan Chen’s gentle and benevolent gaze upon these young girls is reflected in poetically aesthetic imagery, which magnifies their first steps into this new era of their lives.
The cinéma vérité scenes are punctuated by the narration of the tale of Coqotamat. In this oral tradition of Yi culture, young girls triumph over a monstrous creature – reminiscent of the maternal figure – using Soma flowers. Through this directorial choice, Dongnan Chen clarifies the state of mind with which the young girls approach the transition to adulthood, shaped since childhood by the beliefs that constitute contemporary Yi culture.
Whispers in May immortalizes a precious moment in the lives of three young Chinese girls: the beauty of their final days of childhood.
CPH:DOX is currently taking place in Copenhagen from March 11 to 22, 2026.
