After All

After Maiy C.Hô’s tragic suicide, filmmaker documents the liminal spaces of Berlin, with letters from Maiy to her half-brother punctuating the journey. A poignant exploration of the struggles faced by trans individuals, and the intersections of race, gender, and sexuality that shape their experiences. In Afterwards, Chongyan Liu delivers a gesture of post-mortem cinema: the spaces empty of human presence are enveloped in a ghostly aura, as if they were seen from the perspective of the deceased, whose letters we hear, recounting her difficult trajectory through life. Similarly, Afterwards is a journey: spatial, through a deconstructed Berlin; existential, through its narrative; political, as it is about an individual struggle. Its sober and sharp beauty reminds us that cinema does not need much to touch the essential.

Trailer...

Afterwards_Official Trailer_En from Random Headache on Vimeo.