Alliance of Women Film Journalists Selection! Read an excerpt from Margaret Barton Fumo's AWFJ review: "Cathy Yan’s 2018 film DEAD PIGS is a dazzling debut ahead of her better-known followup, the blockbuster superhero film BIRDS OF PREY (2020). DEAD PIGS premiered at Sundance, where it won a Special Jury Award, but it wasn’t released in the U.S. until February of 2021. It’s a shame the film has received limited exposure because it is a delightful comedy that appeals to a wide audience. There is something to be said for Yan's ability to incorporate serious, sweeping topics into a lighthearted film. Unbeknownst to the audience from the start of the film, the characters in DEAD PIGS are acting in an ensemble, linked together by a rickety family tree. Drawing from her years working as a journalist, Yan’s script is finely tuned, smoothly revealing important details like magic tricks – one character is another’s sibling, and yet another’s parent; another still is the CEO of the property development company that is orchestrating much of the film’s drama, the satirically-named Golden Happiness Corporation."

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The fates of an unlucky pig farmer, a feisty home-owner defending her property, a lovestruck busboy, a disenchanted rich girl, and an American expat pursuing the Chinese Dream converge and collide as thousands of dead pigs are found floating down the Huangpu River, towards a modernizing Shanghai in Cathy Yan's (BIRDS OF PREY) debut feature.

DIRECTED BY CATHY YAN
CHINA, USA | 2018 | MANDARIN AND ENGLISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES