Fan Zhang

In 1949, a small Chinese fishing village populated almost entirely by women awaits the establishment of a government by the newly victorious communist regime. In addition to other worries, the villagers wonder how the government will react to their traditional customs, which decree that wives may only see their husbands three times a year, and the circumstances under which they are permitted to become pregnant are very limited. In addition, those who are caught violating these rules are drowned. (Wu Tang Collection)

China, 1900. Xiaoxiao, a girl of about 12, comes to a mountain village for an arranged marriage with a two-year-old boy, Chunguan. Strict clan rules govern all behaviors. She becomes her husband's nanny (he calls her "sister"). Soon, Huagou, a local peasant, takes notice of Xiaoxiao, singing suggestive songs as they work and sending her compliments via the boy. At about the same time, Xiaoxiao sees "girl students" in the nearby town: young women her age who have friends who are boys, who read, w