Red Water Entertainment has announced their first release of the new year: the North American VOD debut of Li Xiaofeng’s Back to the Wharf (Feng ping lang jing). The heart-wrenching Mandarin noir will be available on a number of digital and cable platforms, including iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, iNDemand and DISH, starting November 17th, 2023.

Back to the Wharf is the third feature from director Li Xiaofeng, with a script by Li Xiaofeng and Yu Xin, starring Zhang Yu, Song Jia, Wang Yanhui, and Lee Hong-Chi. Back to the Wharf world premiered at the Shanghai International Film Festival and went on to screen around the globe to critical acclaim, including the Fantasia International Film Festival and the Glasgow Film Festival.

Fifteen years ago, Song Hao, a top student in high school, went into hiding after being falsely ID’d for a murder he didn’t commit. As he returns to his hometown as a grown man, it seems that everything has gone back to normal. His reunion with his old classmate Pan Xiaoshuang casts a bright light on his gloomy life. She provides him with warmth that gradually tames the crashing waters beneath the surface. He decides to start his life anew and reconcile with his father, in order to find the truth about the unspeakable past that he ran away from.