‘Whispers in May’ Blends Doc and Improv Into a Magical Journey From Girlhood to Womanhood

Is it a documentary? Is it improvised fiction? No, it is both! And it is called Whispers in May, the second feature film from Dongnan Chen (Singing in the Wilderness), which explores the transition from girlhood to womanhood through the eyes of three Chinese girls on a road trip.

One of the three girls is Qihuo, who has a secret, namely that she has just had her first menstruation. That makes her ready for the traditional “Changing Skirt” coming-of-age ceremony. With her migrant worker parents away, she goes on a voyage with her two best friends to buy a skirt. Whispers in May blends documentary with an improvised fictional journey to follow them and take us to the edge of girlhood and womanhood.

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Whispers in May will world premiere on Sunday, March 15, in the main competition lineup of CPH:DOX, the Copenhagen International Documentary Film

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