Fen (2024)

The documentary Fen records the daily life of Li and Lianzi, a couple who have been migrant workers in a Chinese megacity for 20 years. Lacking local Household Registration, their adolescent elder son, Manshan, is facing a lot of stress as he prepares for the high school entrance exam. The younger son, a left-behind child, has been raised by the grandmother over these years. In hope of family reunion, Li and Lianzi want to convert to the local Household Registration through a point-based system offered by the government. If they cannot acquire enough points, Manshan will face more competition to get into public high school, and the prospect of bringing the younger son over will remain slim. What future awaits this family? Fen is the required points to convert to local Household Registration. It is the admission score for public high school. And it is the looming separation weighing on the family.