Hidden Letters

The beauty of the many cultures and cultural practices is that many still surprise us daily and the Nushu language of China is one of those. It gained more practitioners and much more curiosity over the years. While Nushu was born out of oppression, it became a secretive and beautiful language. The Chinese women who were seen as ‘the property of men’ finally found their voice and expressed their messages about hope, friendships, and dreams through magnificent arts.

Not only journals but also fans and handkerchiefs were filled with secret language full of small letters. Now, those voices are transported all over the world thanks to the gorgeously crafted, honest and touching documentary “Hidden Letters” by directors Violet Du Feng (“Harbor from the Holocaust”) and Qing Zhao (“Please Remember Me”).

Nushu has been the lifeline of women for centuries now. The language gave hope to so many women, and it still does that. One of the courageous women we follow in this documentary is Hu Xin, a young woman from the countryside. She has been practising Nushu under the watchful eye of He Yanxin, one of the few Nushu teachers. Hu’s now divorced from a man who mistreated her and whose desire to have a son resulted in Hu having an abortion when she was caring for a girl.

What got her through this excruciating time and its aftermath was Nushu. We don’t only get to know Hu but also He as we see how she found her new protegee and how their bond got incredibly strong because of the Nushu. Another person who knows what sadness and repression are is singer Simu, and while her songs are about pain, her repertoire sounds extremely upbeat. According to her, most people don’t understand what she’s singing, so she decides to let the beats speak for themselves and make the people happy. Those three touching and authentic stories are being interwoven into one excellent documentary.

When watching “Hidden Letters,” you see how much Nushu means to the women, but sadly, how little is being thought about anymore. This secret language seems to be dying right in front of these women, and to make sure that they don’t lose hope, faith and love again, you should see this documentary. Nushu is so much more than just a language. It’s a form of expression; it gives women a voice and the means to finally try and escape the incredibly strict patriarchy. The repression of women is also a prominent and vital topic in this documentary. While watching “Hidden Letters”, you’re again reminded that even in the 21st Century, women don’t have a voice for themselves and have to do everything their husbands ask. The most impactful moment is, without a doubt, the scene in which her soon-to-be-husband is telling Simu that she has to find a proper job instead of keeping busy with Nushu, even as a hobby. So many women face this dilemma due to the place of females in Chinese society.

To ensure that those key messages come through strongly, the filmmakers decided to keep the cinematography from Tiebin Feng (“Adventure Life”) and Wei Gao (“Still Tomorrow”) low-key but still very gorgeous. The stunning drone shots, the emotional portraits and the scenes in which you see how the women practice Nushu are excellent combined, and the rhythm of the film feels just like a Nushu poem. The melodic pace is heightened even more because of John Farbrother’s (“Surf Nation”, “Finding Yingying”) editing and the original Nushu songs.

“Hidden Letters” premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, and as director Du Feng mentioned in our interview, the documentary is now coming to London during the BFI London Film Festival for its European premiere. If you want to know more about the beautifully hidden language of Nushu, the strong women portrayed in this documentary and the incredible craftsmanship of the cast and crew, then we strongly recommend booking your ticket for the screenings on the 5th and 6th of October via the official BFI London Film Festival website.