The pain of family reunions for singletons in The Silk And The Flame

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It is a familiar lament, one that has become a bitter joke for singles. During Chinese New Year, parents and extended family interrogate unmarried persons, then offer romantic advice of the kind that went out of date around the mid-1970s.

In the documentary The Silk And The Flame, director Jordan Schiele follows Yao, a single man in his late 30s living in Beijing, over several days spent with his parents in rural Henan province during the festive period.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on February 07, 2019, with the headline The pain of family reunions for singletons in The Silk And The Flame. Subscribe