Copyright Deadline
EXCLUSIVE: A seemingly harmless beauty mark on the face of director Mo Tan triggers a cascading series of events and family crisis in the documentary Confessions of a Mole, set to make its world premiere at International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA). The film premieres in the Envision Competition section alongside Fordlândia Panacea (dir. Susana de Sousa Dias), Powwow People (dir. Sky Hopinka), Trillion (dir. Victor Kossakovsky) and other prominent work. We have your first look at the film in the trailer above. “After seven years abroad in Poland, Chinese filmmaker Mo Tan returns home for the Lunar New Year, only to be drawn back into the emotional pull of her family,” notes a synopsis. “When a fortune teller warns that a mole on her face will bring misfortune, her parents insist she have it removed. Mo refuses, but their fixation, compounded by a fractured family dynamic and her own unraveling relationship, begins to push her to the brink. A breast cancer diagnosis forces her to confront both her mortality and the unsettling possibility that fate might be real.” Tan’s credits include a mix of fiction and nonfiction films, including Licentia Poetica (2018); Insomnia (2017); Kamienne chleby (2017); Woo (2016); Cactus (2013), and Piotrusiu (2013). Confessions of a Mole “arises from observing intimate relationships, family dynamics, and generational tensions, exploring the possibilities of coexistence and dialogue,” Tan writes in a director’s statement. “Polarization is often discussed in global politics and in social issues like gender, cultural, and racial divisions, but it quietly permeates our intimate and familial bonds, often without our awareness.” Tan continues, “Stylistically, the film adopts the methods of Caméra-Stylo and the cinematic essay. My voiceover monologue offers access to my inner world, while stop-motion animation depicts the fantasies and fears that haunt my imagination. Visually, I focus on capturing spontaneous emotions and subtle interpersonal exchanges. The tone is comic, sometimes even caricature-like. Yet, as both filmmaker and cinematographer, I am far from an impartial observer. I question the characters, and when the camera turns back on me, my own vulnerabilities and contradictions are revealed. The camera acts as both witness and blade, revealing what is hidden yet deepening what is raw.” IDFA, the largest documentary film festival in the world, opens this Thursday and runs through Sunday, November 23. Confessions of a Mole premieres this Sunday, with additional screenings set each day from Monday, Nov. 17 through Saturday, Nov. 22. Watch the trailer for Confessions of a Mole above.
