Hello, Mr. Tree!

• Director: Han Jie
• Cast: Wang Baoqiang, Tan Zhuo
• Language: Chinese
• Theatrical Release Date: September 9, 2011

Synopsis: Han Jie (Tiger Award winner with Walk on the Wild Side, 2005) constructs a slightly absurd social comedy around the eccentric protagonist Mr Tree (Wang Baoqing), a fable about guilt, punishment and greed in the new China, where fantasy and harsh reality clash in a Fellini-esque way. 

Rapid urbanisation in China, seen through slightly absurdist spectacles. A mining company takes over a dusty village in the Chinese hinterland and the inhabitants are sent to the settlement New Sun City that still has to be built. At first the pressure is gentle. 
The sleepy and rather unworldly Mr Shu - the Chinese word for tree - doesn’t seem to notice any of it. He just tries to carry on his life with the aid of several old friends, and he wants to win the love of the deaf-mute Xiao Mei. 
Han Jie based his film on what he has seen happen in recent years in the villages in the Chinese hinterland that he visited: the working population moves to the big cities and thanks to the large-scale exploitation of the land, the areas left behind are increasingly vulnerable to natural disasters. His film puts these developments together into a narrative filled with mild humour and allegorical layers. [Synopsis courtesy of Rotterdam]