“Plants don’t get to choose where they go. They are just moved here and there by people.”

Buliang Zhao is a Chinese man living with his Japanese partner Rin Takahashi, an office worker. He works at a warehouse that sponsors his visa while he pursues his passion for art in the face of family demands for him to return home while Rin patiently weathers overbearing colleagues and her own family’s expectations over her settling down. Through these two characters, on the verge of parting due to the demands of others, the film explores the limits of personal freedom and desire. As melancholy as it is, director YANG Liping picks out the warm glow of a sunset or the colourful pin pricks of light in a night-time cityscape to soften the quiet disappointments.
(Text by Jason Maher)