The Dating Game

Local title
Töötuba poissmeestele
Director
Violet Du Feng
Year
2025
Festival
29th Black Nights Film Festival
Programme

In a country where eligible men outnumber women by 30 million, three bachelors join an intensive seven-day dating camp.

Set in China, where eligible men outnumber women by over 30 million, “The Dating Game” is the story of Zhou, Li, and Wu, three bachelors embarking on a seven-day dating camp, led by Hao, one of China’s most sought-after dating coaches. In their last-ditch effort to find love, the bachelors chuckle and bond as Hao makes them over, altering how they look and act online – and in real life. It’s all part of Hao’s signature “strategic deception,” a series of techniques designed to, purportedly, make humans connect. Hao’s credentials? Hao successfully wooed Wen, a stylish, educated city-girl – a real catch who is now his wife.

As our three bachelors stumble through the camp’s awkward challenges, they try to make sense of their authentic and constructed selves, and find the self-confidence they need to land that date.

“The Dating Game” is, on the surface, a whimsical romp through courtship in the digital age, but it also reveals the social challenges that leave us questioning how we seek human connection.

“The Dating Game” had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in the World Documentary category.

Director
Violet Du Feng
Screenwriter
Violet Du Feng, John Farbrother
Producer
Joanna Natasegara, James Costa, Mette Cheng Munthe-Kaas, Violet Du Feng
Cinematographer
Wei Gao
Editing
John Farbrother
Music
Chad Cannon
Runtime
Language
Subtitles
Other festivals
Sundance, Zurich
Director
Violet Du Feng

Screenings

1st Saku hall Apollo Kino Solaris
Screening041118 / Töötuba poissmeestele
SubtitlesEnglish
Screening duration
Screening043020 / Töötuba poissmeestele
SubtitlesEnglish
Screening duration
Screening151218 / Töötuba poissmeestele
SubtitlesEnglish
Screening duration
Trailer