Mistress Dispeller (Bellwether, Free-to-Members)

Director Elizabth Lo joins us via Zoom for a post-film conversation.

This screening is free to Amherst Cinema Members.

In China, a new industry has emerged devoted to helping couples stay married in the face of infidelity. Wang Zhenxi is part of this growing profession, a “mistress dispeller” who is hired to maintain the bonds of marriage—and break up affairs—by any means necessary.

Offering strikingly intimate access to private dramas usually hidden behind closed doors, MISTRESS DISPELLER follows a real, unfolding case of infidelity as Teacher Wang attempts to bring a couple back from the edge of crisis.

Their story shifts our sympathies between husband, wife and mistress to explore the ways emotion, pragmatism and cultural norms collide to shape romantic relationships in contemporary China.

Elizabeth Lo is a filmmaker whose documentary films have been showcased at Sundance, IDFA, SXSW, Tribeca, MoMA, AFI Fest, True/False, New York Times Op-Docs, Field of Vision and PBS’ POV. Elizabeth has been featured in Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film,” DOC NYC’s “40 Under 40,” and Cannes Lions’ “New Directors Showcase.” She is a recipient of artist fellowships from Locarno, New York Film Festival, Yaddo and MacDowell, and was selected for the Concordia Studio Fellowship and Gotham/HBO Documentary Development Initiative.

Her debut feature, STRAY, won Best International Feature at Hot Docs and received nominations from the Independent Spirit Awards, Critics Choice Documentary Awards and Cinema Eye Honors after premiering at Tribeca in 2020. A New York Times “Critic’s Pick,” STRAY was released theatrically by Magnolia Pictures and is now streaming on Hulu. Her short films—including HOTEL 22, BISONHEAD, and MOTHER'S DAY—have been acquired by colleges and libraries worldwide. Elizabeth holds a BFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts and an MFA from Stanford University. She was born and raised in Hong Kong.