All the F***ing Crows in the World wins the EWA Network Female Voices Award in TFL Meeting Event
For the second year, EWA Network has presented an award to a female scriptwriter in the TFL programme. This year we found many projects challenging the world with a bold vision, which bring unapologetic female protagonists and an inclusive approach to storytelling. This made our work more difficult but truly inspiring.
EWA Network is proud to present the Female Voices Award to a project that frames with an unique point of view the burden and responsibility of being successful, not having a second chance in life. What it means to grow up with the mission of not disappointing your elders. What it means to suppress your sexual feelings and skip youth to accomplish your mission. The writer outlines this unique world with exquisite wit and sharp cinematc ideas. The worlds is in urgent need of a feminist comedy like ALL THE F***CROWS IN THE WORLD by Tang Yi
"Rising to become her town’s academic prodigy, an 18-year-old finds herself trapped in adult politics and unwanted advances"
ALL THE F***ING CROWS IN THE WORLD
SYNOPSIS
Shengnan is an 18-year-old high school graduate and an only child. The literal translation of her name, Shengnan, is “defeating the boys.”When Shengnan was 6, her mother was forced into an abortion due to the One Child Policy, who according to a fortune teller was supposed to be a boy. The ghost of this aborted younger brother lingers around Shengnan, motivating her to study hard and to be better than boys.
His presence turns Shengnan into a learning machine, believing that she could find happiness by outperforming boys in academics. She puts all her efforts in her studies and suppresses her sexual desire.
After scoring the highest in the college entrance exam, she bested 90,000 students in her province, becoming the talk of the town. Her overwhelming success instantly makes her the most desirable virgin in town. Party after party, Shengnan thinks that she has made it. However, she becomes an objectified symbol of fortune, and everyone wants a part of her. She falls deeper into the rabbit hole of this adult world.
INTENTION
All the F**king Crows in the World illustrates the experience of being a girl, and an only child in China. I’d like to explore a young girl’s relationship with her own body under East Asian patriarchy. It’s a sex comedy that takes place in a very sexually repressed society.
During my teenage years, I often found myself in uncomfortable situations I shouldn’t have been in and
experiencing incidents I should never have encountered. Thanks to my naivety, I somehow managed to survive these situations, come out unscathed and become the person I am today. However, now as a woman looking back at those years, the aftermath of that struggle weighs on me. In telling this story, I want to further explore the absurd situations I’ve encountered as a teenager through the lens of my current perspectives and expand the scope of this linear story so that we see how other characters struggle under such patriarchy. I refuse to be a victim, so this has to be a comedy. And everything is funnier in a wide shot
TANG YI
Tang Yi was born and raised in Fuzhou, China. She moved to Hong Kong for college to study accounting. During her studies, she discovered her passion for art and initially pursued a career in music. Later, she applied to NYU Tisch with a music video and was awarded a scholarship. In 2021, her second short film, All the Crows in the World, won the Short Film Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Tang Yi considers herself a cinema nomad, traveling the world to find a home for her stories. She is developing her first feature through Cinefondation Residence in Paris, and the TorinoFilmLab – ScriptLab. Yi’s work focuses on telling stories about women, underrepresented groups, and social issues. She captures these themes through a subversive, darkly comedic film lens, which is a signature style of hers.