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Southern Metropolis Daily reporter Wu Fengsi The documentary film "The Whisperer", which was shortlisted for the 95th Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, was recently officially announced to be released on August 31. The film is co-directed by Feng Du and Zhao Qing, and Wang Han, the initiator of the Hunan dialect survey "Response" plan, is the chief planner and producer of "The Whisperer".

"The Whisperer" is China's first documentary film on the theme of Nüshu. Nüshu refers to a special script invented by women and passed down among women. It is the only female-only script in the world so far. It is derived from square Chinese characters and the characters are in the shape of "多". It is circulated in the Xiaoshui River Basin in Jiangyong County, southern Hunan, China, and is still used by some elderly women. As a product of a specific historical period and regional culture, Nüshu is a language symbol for correspondence between women. Women use it to sing about the past and the present, sing stories, and communicate with female friends to gain the power of mutual support.

The Whisperer is also known as a "encrypted" female film. Different from traditional humanities and historical documentary films, The Whisperer does not spend a lot of time tracing the origin and evolution of Nüshu. Instead, it takes Nüshu as the theme, focusing on the stories of three "Nüshu people" Hu Xin, Simu and He Yanxin, and delicately depicting the mentality and situation of contemporary women. The film is set against the backdrop of Nüshu in Jiangyong County, Yongzhou City, Hunan Province. From the perspective of contemporary women's growth, the film reflects on the women of that era recorded in Nüshu. It not only pays attention to the inheritance and changes of Nüshu as a national intangible cultural heritage, but also pays attention to the dilemma of contemporary women seeking independence, growth and self-breakthrough.

"The Whisperer" uncovers this dusty old past, and with the help of the new fate of new women and Nüshu, it gives Nüshu a new connotation. He Yanxin is the "last natural inheritor of Nüshu", and Hu Xin is the youngest Nüshu inheritor in Jiangyong County. The relationship between the two is the inheritance of Nüshu from generation to generation, and it is also a touching "friendship without age difference". Wu Simu is an urban woman who taught herself to become a Nüshu artist. Whether it is the new and old generations of Nüshu inheritors, or Nüshu artists who grew up in an open-minded family atmosphere, they all have unspeakable worries and entanglements when facing choices in marriage, family, career, and emotions. The film delicately presents their confusion. Although they often feel helpless in the face of hesitation and uncertainty in life, the existence of Nüshu can always help them achieve new growth and find a better self at critical moments.

The main creative team said that under the wave of commercialization, where will Nüshu, as a special culture, go? The answer is uncertain, but what is certain is that many things reflected by Nüshu are closely related to the present. Each generation of women has its own growth story, and the topic of women's growth is always new. "There is a group of shots in the movie, they are the faces of women of different ages and identities from all over the country, and every word of Nüshu reflects such faces."

It is reported that from July 27 to 28, "The Whisperer" will hold a national premiere in Changsha and Beijing. At that time, women's books institutions, organizations, curators and individuals will be invited to hold a "Women's Book Special" to review the history of women recorded in women's books and listen to the demands and voices of contemporary women. Next, "The Whisperer" will also hold a premiere in 100 cities across the country. It is reported that the film is jointly produced by Hunan Elephant Partner Film and Television Culture Co., Ltd., Migu Video Technology Co., Ltd., Youku Humanities, Shanghai Zhijiu Film and Television Media Co., Ltd., Shenzhen Ci Nian Culture Co., Ltd., Guangdong Pu Meng Culture Technology Co., Ltd., and Guangzhou Xingren Culture Communication Co., Ltd.