If you thought dating was bad stateside, take comfort in knowing the odds could be so much worse.
Director Violet Du Feng decided to capture the staggering disillusionment of straight men in China, where “eligible” male suitors outnumber women by 30 million. Du Feng’s documentary “The Dating Game” centers on one dating coach who is enlisted by a trio of bachelors to teach them how to find wives. All it takes, apparently, is an intensive seven-day dating camp.
The official synopsis reads: “Zhou, Li, and Wu are the three bachelors who embark on a seven-day dating camp, led by Hao, one of China’s most sought-after dating coaches. In their last-ditch effort to find love, the bachelors chuckle and bond as Hao makes them over, altering how they look and act online—and in real life. It’s all part of Hao’s signature ‘strategic deception,’ a series of techniques designed to, purportedly, make humans connect. Hao’s credentials? Hao successfully wooed Wen, a stylish, educated city-girl — a real catch who is now his wife.”
That “strategic deception” is hilariously detailed in the above clip of the documentary, which is premiering in competition as part of the World Cinema Documentary program at Sundance. The film debuts opening day, January 23, with more screenings throughout. “The Dating Game” is seeking distribution.
“I have long told stories about the human connections and I am particularly interested in the gender divide in China,” Emmy-winning filmmaker Du Feng told IndieWire. “My last film ‘Hidden Letters’ focused on a secret language of women, called Nushu, and the ancient roots of feminism in China. After taking that film on the road in China I realized I needed to examine the other side of the coin and make a film about men. In the multigenerational wake of the One Child policy, I looked for a personal story that would allow the audience — and me — to unpack the experiences of men. I wanted to probe some questions. How do men in China deal with being an acutely outnumbered minority? What impact has this had on society, and on each of them personally? How do they find love in the digital age?”
Du Feng continued, “I was lucky to find Hao, the dating coach, and his cohort of students. Their sweet, difficult, and often hilarious encounters taught me so much about how much I didn’t know.”
“The Dating Game” is a Fish+Bear Pictures and Violet Films production, in association with Bird Street Productions, Ten Thousand Images, and Chicken & Egg Pictures. It is produced by Joanna Natasegara, James Costa, and Mette Cheng Munthe-Kaas.
Check out the clip above; “The Dating Game” premieres January 23 at Sundance.