"I think Xiaobin is not afraid of the new, she totally embraces it. She gets bored very quickly, but while something is new to her she will be curious, it doesn't matter what it is." Nele Wholatz ( Director)
Argentina-based German director Nele Wohlatz's deadpan comedy won the best first feature prize at many prestigious film festivals.
Xiaobin is 17 years old and does not speak a single word of Spanish when she comes to Argentina from China. But a few days later, she already has a new name, Beatriz, and a job in a Chinese supermarket. Her family lives in a parallel world, running a launderette, far removed from the Argentinians. Xiaobin secretly saves money and enrolls at a language school. As soon as she's learned enough to get by, she arranges a meet-up with supermarket shopper Vijay. The two immigrants find it difficult to communicate but easy to fall in love. Vijan wants to marry her and take her to India. Xiaobin is troubled by the questions and possibilities this future might bring. What will her parents say when they find out about the relationship? In her debut feature, Nele Wohlatz touches on profound problems with ease and imagination, and not without prompting laughter, reminding us of a master: Jarmusch.
2016 LOCARNO BEST FIRST FEATURE, AFI FEST NEW AUTEURS GRAND JURY AWARD, VIENNA
Nele Wohlatz was born in Germany in 1982. She attended Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design to study scenography, then she studied filmmaking in Buenos Aires. Her shorts include Schneeränder (2009), Novios Del Campo (2009), La Mochila Perfecta (2014). In 2013 she co-directed Ricardo Bär with Gerardo Naumann.
