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Sunday, June 14
2:45 PM - 4:15 PM

Regal Gallery Place

701 7th St NW, Washington, DC 20001

for all screenings

Two Mountains Weighing Down My Chest

Film Languages

English, Mandarin, German

Director

Viv Li

Contact

Kilian Kiefel kkiefel@mediawan.com

Stranded in Berlin during the pandemic, Viv — a Chinese aspiring artist — unexpectedly finds herself immersed in the city’s vibrant alternative culture scene. What begins as an accident of circumstance gradually becomes a personal awakening. Raised in China in the 1990s as a self-described tomboy, Viv has long navigated expectations around gender, identity, and success. In Berlin, those expectations collide with a radically different social landscape, where new freedoms bring both exhilaration and disorientation.

As Viv drifts through the city’s creative communities, she encounters artists, activists, and fellow outsiders who challenge her assumptions about who she might become. Yet the more perspectives she absorbs — about art, sexuality, politics, and China itself — the more uncertain she feels about where she belongs. Torn between the values of her upbringing and the possibilities unfolding around her, Viv finds herself navigating competing cultures, identities, and visions of the future.

Blending humor, candor, and moments of surreal reflection, TWO MOUNTAINS WEIGHING DOWN MY CHEST traces Viv’s restless search for self-understanding, offering a wry and deeply personal meditation on identity, migration, and the complicated process of defining oneself in a rapidly globalizing world.

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Viv Li

Director, Two Mountains Weighing Down My Chest

Viv Li is a Chinese filmmaker and artist based in Berlin. Born and raised in Beijing, she has spent 15 years living and working across Europe, South America, and Southeast Asia. She holds an MA from DocNomads and a BA from the University of Manchester.

An alumna of the Sundance Institute and Berlinale Talents, her film ACROSS THE WATERS was nominated for the Short Film Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2024 and won the Lights On Women’s Worth Award. Her work has also screened in competition at the Venice Film Festival and received awards at IDFA. She is currently developing her first narrative feature, SUN HAZE.

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