Mao’s Ice Cream

It is a humid summer afternoon in 1976: After their graduation ceremony five young women wander around the streets of Chengdu. It is a special year for China - the year of Mao’s death, the end of the Cultural Revolution. But also a special day for the girls - during their walk they suddenly find 2 Yuan on the ground. A fortune at the time. They use the money to buy their first ever ice cream. Then, in order to capture this unique moment, they take a group photo in a nearby studio. It makes them so happy, so they decide to meet every ten years to retake the group photo. Forty years later, in 2016, young journalist Jialu Zhang, the daughter of the protagonist, travels to China to film them preparing for taking the 5th photo. The film will be narrated by Jialu Zhang‘s voice-over, as she shares her questions with the audience and sets out on a journey to find answers about her family’s past. How can her mother be a member and strong believer of the party that once persecuted their family? In individual interviews she takes the courage to ask the women about the transformations in their lives, how they adapted to the changes in recent Chinese history and ultimately the Cultural Revolution. Have they forgotten or have they forgiven?