In the suburbs of a northern Chinese city undergoing urbanization, a quirky girl who wants to see animals in the zoo is taken for a ride which will forever change her perspective on life.
Original TitleHe Ma Year of production 2025 Length 13' CountryChina/Hong Kong Shooting Format 4K HD Aspect Ratio 4:3 Dialogue Mandarin Director Lin Jianjie (JJ) Production Companies MOS Productions, Paradigm Shift Entertainment Producers Lou Ying, Lin Jianjie Co-Presented by Zhang Wen, Li Haoyuan Writers Lin Jianjie (JJ) Cinematographer Li Chen EditorHuang Bingjie, Lin Jianjie CastingLiao Yanlong, Wang Cong, Zeng Mingke Art Director Yu Chen, Pai Pai Sound Supervisor Liu Qi Colorist Cai Yaohui Location Sound Hu Jia Assistant Director Zhou Yancheng Key Stills Of Hippopotami Heinrichvanden Berg, Gorazd Golob Cast Zhang Zhiyong, Wang Zixi, Xu Ge, Wang Zhenhua Festival selections Sundance Film Festival 2025, USA - World Premiere Berlin Critics’ Week 2025, Germany
Director's Statement While preparing for my feature film, I read a news article about a couple’s shady business in a Northern Chinese town. I felt an immediate sense of absurdity which I could not shake off. But I didn’t want to simply tell the story as it was in the news. One day, an image popped up in my head: a little girl staring at the deadpan, dull, wrinkly and sagging face of a hippopotamus. Then the hippo opens its mouth, revealing strong, dangerous teeth. The girl wonders whether it’s going to eat her, or is it yawning. I see a curious gaze trying to penetrate the deceivingly docile look of reality - a reality kept obscure by the parents. The antitheses between the real and the absurd, the innocent and the obscene, the elegance of high art and the ugliness of the transaction, inspires me to approach this story about lost innocence with a darkly humorous tone. Choosing a little girl as protagonist allows me to keep a distance from the original case while plunging into the real horror of it: not what is happening now, but what could happen in the future.
