Synopsis

Qi, a six-year-old girl, resides with her mother's original family all year round since her father works in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone in China and rarely visits home. On a hot day at noon, at the end of the 20th century, she watched as the grown-ups' figures flickered and vanished before her eyes like shadows.

Curators’ note

Following the eyes of a six-year-old girl, the film captures the daily life of a typical dual-income family in 1990s China. Through delicate cinematography and warm tones, it paints a vivid portrait of the era: a grandmother burdened with the invisible labour of managing a three-generation household, a mother striving for self-improvement yet emotionally distant, an absent father, and young parents juggling the demands of work, life, and new parenthood. These long-gone memories, when revisited by those who grew up in the 1990s, evoke familiar fragments — like the humid heat of summer afternoons and the faint rumble of distant thunder — forming a unique collective memory. (Sally Fu)

Director’s bio

Wenqian Zhang was a filmmaker and visual artist. She graduated from Nanjing University in 2017 and holds an MFA in Theater. Later, she earned another MFA in Filmmaking from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2019.

In 2020, Wenqian returned to China and co-founded Trembling Flame Films with her partner Yue Huang. In 2021, she produced Yue's short film, The Executioner, which was selected for the International Competition of the 44th Clermont-Ferrand SFF. Later on, Wenqian's feature documentary debut, A Long Journey Home won the jury prize in the Burning Lights Competition Visions du Réel 2022. In 2024, Wenqian finished her first fictional short film, Remains of the Hot Day, which premiered at the 74th Berlinale and won the Silver Bear in the Shorts competition.

Director‘s statement

Looking back on the turn of the century, I recall a sense of yearning and unease that silently permeated my family members. This memory takes me back to a period in China's history when the country actively engaged in the global economic system. People's desire for a better life resonated with the rapidly changing outside world. Making this film is to revisit some of my childhood memories while reflecting on them in the present. I couldn't ignore the sadness and the sense of loss that overshadowed my thoughts.

Festival & Awards

74th Berlinale Shorts Competition: Silver Bear Jury Prize

Casts

Juliette Wu, Zhengye Chen

Credits