Wasteland in Embers (2026)

In 2012 on the Bashang Grassland of Hebei, China, a small town is left buried in sand and unemployment after its coal mine closes. A girl with an intellectual disability lives there with her grandmother, the two depending on each other. When the grandmother suddenly suffers a stroke, responsibility for her care is shuffled among the children, haggled over, and reduced to a sum of money. The girl becomes the family’s unwanted burden. After an argument, they quietly shut the door and leave her on the other side. She walks alone into the wasteland. For the first time, the world goes silent. Warm evening light surrounds her, with a sheep following close behind. She passes ruined fields and abandoned villages. As night falls, she moves toward a room glowing red in the darkness, and the light slowly takes her. Life goes on. Only a girl who once existed slips away, without a sound.