Tuya’s Marriage

Tuya, hardworking and hardheaded, is a Mongolian desert herder who refuses to be settled in a town in accordance with the new industrialization policy. She is kept busy with two kids, a disabled husband and 100 sheep to care for, but one day she hurts her back. The only way for the family to survive is for her to divorce her husband on paper and look for a new spouse who can take care of the whole family. A series of suitors lines up, but it's not easy to find a man who fits the bill. This warm, endearing tale, featuring stunning cinematography, won the top prize at the 2007 Berlin International Film Festival.

“This small, sweet drama from Chinese director Wang Quang An is picturesque, romantic and unexpectedly droll tale of life in one the world's most remote regions.” (Ken Fox, TV Guide’s Movie Guide)

“It is a fine and plaintive experience, more modern-day folklore than ethnographic study, and a wonderfully assured piece of cinema.” (Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune)

“Graced with a captivating lead performance and artful cinematography.” (John P. McCarthy, Boxoffice Magazine)

“A compact near-masterpiece that combines a slow-motion romantic comedy with a docudrama-style portrait of a remote, nomadic culture as it is gradually eroded by the tides of the 21st century.” (Andrew O’Hehir, Salon)

“Absorbing...fascinating...TUYA’S MARRIAGE finds an austere beauty in a landscape of scrub and grassland ringed by forbidding slate-blue mountains.” (Stephen Holden, New York Times)

“With a simple, compelling and direct story, Wang Quan An makes eloquent points about the vanishing life of the Mongolian herdsman” (Kirk Honeycutt, The Hollywood Reporter)

“Funny, tender, and vividly shot” (David D’Arcy, Screen International)