Wasteland in Embers

2012, Bashang Grassland, Hebei in China. A small town smothered by sand and unemployment after the coal mine shuts down. A girl with an intellectual disability lives with her grandmother, holding on to each other. When the grandmother suffers a sudden stroke, the responsibility of her care is passed around among the children, bargained over and reduced to a sum of money. The girl becomes the family's unwanted burden. After an argument, they quietly close the door and leave her on the other side. She walks out into the wasteland alone. For the first time, the world falls silent. Warm evening light wraps around her, a sheep following close behind. She passes through ruined fields and abandoned villages. As night falls, she moves toward a room glowing red in the dark, and the light slowly takes her. Life goes on. Only a girl who once existed slips away, without a sound.