Hyena 鬣狗 | Midnightblurfilms

Hyena

鬣狗

America｜2025｜Drama｜Horror, Noir｜21min

Director: Altay Ulan Yang Ming

Screenwriter: Altay Ulan Yang Ming

Executive Producer: Altay Ulan Yang Ming

Producer: Altay Ulan Yang Ming

Cinematographer: Fang Jiacheng, Hu Yinghai

Editor: Zhang Zhongchen

Art Director: Zhou Guanghan

Sound: Dong Borui, Zhen Cheng

Music: Chen Ruotong

Starring: Zhengjie Huo as 90, Tianyu Hou as Master, Yang Ming as Leopard

导演：杨名

编剧：杨名

监制：杨名

制片：杨名

摄影指导：方家诚、胡英海

剪辑：张中臣

美术指导：周广涵

声音：董博瑞、甄诚

音乐：陈若彤

主演：霍政杰饰 90，侯天宇饰大师，杨名饰豹子

Synopsis

In an isolated castle, students prepare for a life-changing examination. As anticipation builds to a fever pitch, a storm strikes. Trapped within crumbling walls, their academic sanctuary becomes a prison, and minds begin to break.

Festival&Award

Locarno International Film Festival 2025

- Best International Short Film

Montreal Festival du nouveau cinéma 2025

Director's Note

This story delves into the dark underbelly of academic pressure. We excavate the trauma of China's exam culture, where young minds are pushed beyond breaking point in pursuit of an impossible perfection.

Altay Ulan Yang

Altay Ulan Yang is a director from the Chahar Mongolian tribe in Inner Mongolia, China and based in New York now. His first short film, Monsters Never Know, won the Best International Short Film award at the Fribourg International Film Festival. His latest short Hyena was awarded the Best International Short Film at the 78th Locarno Film Festival. Currently, Altay Ulan Yang and his team have established X100 Film Studio, aiming to produce low-budget, youth-oriented genre films. Two feature-length projects are in development, with the first set to begin production in 2026.