'The Great Skull' Opens SIFF Main Competition in
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- "The Great Skull" opened the main competition of the 28th Shanghai International Film Festival on June 12, with director Liu Xiaoyang, screenwriter Zhang Xiaoying, and lead cast members Wen Qi, Ni Hongjie, and Yu Entai attending the press conference.
- Zhang Xiaoying wove her personal experience into a tragicomedy about a mother and daughter grieving their loss while trying to act normal, with more than 50% of dialogue spoken in the Shanghai dialect.
- The title is a humorous reference to the late father's large cremation bone fragment; director Liu briefly forgot his speech on stage and read from his phone: "We wish to shout out to our passed loved ones that they don't need to worry about us."
- Wen Qi, one of the most popular Gen-Z actors in Chinese language cinema, said conveying deep grief and the "Shanghai-style aura" were challenging, and credited veteran cinematographer Zeng Jian — known for his work with Lou Ye — as essential to the production.
- Ni Hongjie, the only Shanghainese actor among the major cast, said she felt "very lucky" to have the film premiere in her home city: "Our film is like a seed in the soil growing into a tree."
- Yu Entai said the film's minimalist style taught him to keep his performance simple, easing his earlier worry about becoming the go-to dad in Chinese dramas.
- The Shanghai dialect has emerged as a marker of local cultural identity in recent years, with "Shanghai Blossoms" and "B for Busy" establishing the trend ahead of "The Great Skull."
Why it matters: The film's 50%+ Shanghainese dialogue is a deliberate bet on local linguistic identity inside SIFF's main competition, testing whether dialect-driven grief storytelling can travel beyond regional audiences. For Gen-Z star Wen Qi, the role marks a shift toward more restrained, emotionally demanding work.
