Lilting (Chinese: 轻轻摇晃; pinyin: Qīngqīng yáohuàng) is a 2014 British romantic drama film written and directed by Cambodian-born British director Hong Khaou^[2] and produced by Dominic Buchanan.^[3]

The film had its world premiere on 16 January 2014 on Day One of the Sundance Film Festival, at which it competed in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition.^[4] It won the "Cinematography Award: World Cinema Dramatic" at the festival.^[5][6] The film was released theatrically in United Kingdom on 8 August 2014^[7][8] and in the United States on 26 September 2014.^[9]

Lilting tells the story of a mother's attempt at understanding who her son was after his untimely death. Her world is suddenly disrupted by the presence of his lover. Together, they attempt to overcome their grief whilst struggling against not having a shared language.^[10]

• Ben Whishaw as Richard
• Cheng Pei-pei as Junn
• Naomi Yang (credited as Naomi Christie) as Vann
• Peter Bowles as Alan
• Morven Christie as Margaret
• Andrew Leung as Kai

The script, originally titled Lilting the Past, won third spot in the 2011 Brit List, a list of the best unproduced British screenplays.^[11]

The film was one of three films greenlit by Microwave in early 2012.^[12][13] A casting call was later released for the three lead roles,^[14] later filled by Cheng Pei-pei, Ben Whishaw, and Andrew Leung.

Filming began in November 2012 ^[15] and completed principal photography in December 2012.^[16] Director Khaou has said the film will be visually inspired by Wong Kar-wai's In the Mood for Love.^[17]

During production, as part of the Microwave scheme, Michael Winterbottom mentored writer/director Khaou, while producer Buchanan was mentored by Ken Marshall, producer of London to Brighton, Filth and Song for Marion. As with all Microwave films, the budget was £120,000.^[18] It is the first bilingual film to be made under the Microwave scheme.^[19]