How to Describe a Cloud

Straddling the line between reality and fantasy, this meditative film tells the story of the young girl Liling, who has abandoned her mother in the countryside in order to become a DJ amidst the neon lights of Taipei. But when her mother goes blind and can no longer take care of herself, Liling is forced to reevaluate her life. Returning to her coastal village, she has to face a new reality which, as she experiences elusive flashes of extrasensory perception, threatens to disrupt all the firmly anchored rules that previously governed her world. Filmed in a self-confident and stylistically mature manner, the film explores Liling’s life while offering an original depiction of the conflict between her rational nature and her deepening sensitivity for her inner feelings. Through long, painstakingly arranged takes and an almost ambient musical score, Verbeek gives the film a distinct tone that requires both the main protagonist and the audience to find the courage to immerse themselves in its atmosphere and not to rely on their faith in established models, but to trust their intuition. (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)