Cu-Li Never Cries

Feature-length Film
Runtime 1h 33 mins
Year 2024

Mrs Nguyen is a blue collar retiree in Hanoi, Vietnam who once worked in Germany as a foreign laborer. When she learns that her German husband has passed away, she returns to  retrieve his ashes. She inherits an urn of his ashes and a pet cu-li, a small creature resembling a monkey. With these, she has to bypass a series of absurd, bureaucratic hurdles  to bring the ashes and cu-li back home to Vietnam. Upon arriving back at her apartment, she  finds that her niece Van, who she has raised, is engaged to her boyfriend Quang. As the young couple starts to plan their shotgun wedding, Mrs Nguyen starts to unravel.

Director Pham Ngoc Lan
Screenwriters Pham Ngoc Lan, Nghiem Quynh Trang
Producers Tran Thi Bich Ngoc, Nghiem Quynh Trang