Mint Chinese Film Festival
MINT CFF Closing Film Spotlight: Examining Silence and Trauma in the Chinese Diaspora at the Edge of Love and Destruction
Grounded in Lucy Liu's restrained yet powerful performance, Rosemead moves beyond traditional family tragedy to expose the silent trauma and complex agency within the Chinese diaspora.
In 2025, starring Lucy Liu and adapted from true events, Rosemead premiered at the 78th Locarno Film Festival, winning the Audience Award. It was subsequently invited to serve as the special closing night film for the 4th MINT Chinese Film Festival (MINT CFF).
In the film, Lucy Liu delivers a deeply restrained and suffocating performance, capturing the profound grief, loneliness, and struggle of a terminally ill Chinese mother caring for a son with severe mental illness. Moving beyond the traditional family tragedy, the film expands its scope to examine the long-held silence and collective trauma of the Chinese diaspora under the stigma of mental illness. Through a striking visual and thematic language, it explores the boundaries between love, destruction, and ultimate choices. Here, we see how contemporary female creators and performers break free from passive suffering, turning maternal hardship into a powerful voice for complex social realities and personal agency.