ACF
Asian Cinema Fund
Post-Production Fund
2024 Post-Production Fund
LIST As the River Goes By
| Category | Asian Project |
|---|---|
| Project | As the River Goes By |
| Director | Charles HU |
| Country | China |
| Director's Profile | Writer/director, Charles Hu, was born in 1997 and graduated from the Communication University of Zhejiang with a degree in drama and film directing. His works often focus on themes of loneliness, wandering in the spiritual world, and the feeling of being exiled from the current situation. His graduation short film, River Straying (2019), was selected for the Beijing International Short Film Festival 2019 and HiShorts! Film Festival 2019, among others. His first feature film, As the River Goes By (2024), was shot in his hometown of Henan, won the Best WIP Award at the Film Project Market Shanghai International Film Festival 2024, and was selected for the FIRST Financing Forum 2020. |
- Synopsis
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Twelve years after a distant earthquake, its long-forgotten aftershock ripples through the life of a young man named Li. While wandering through the tall grasses along the riverbank, Li’s camera unexpectedly captures a blurry figure from the past. This spectral image ushers the ghostly return of bygone days, compelling Li to attend a reunion with his elementary school peers that very evening. There, he reconnects with Song Qian, a former classmate who once harbored a secret affection for him.
In the nostalgic glow of their reunion, Song Qian reminisces about a novel Li had penned during their elementary years. Intrigued and a bit puzzled, Li returns home to search for this forgotten manuscript, but his efforts prove fruitless. At home, the atmosphere is strained; his mother’s demeanor is unyieldingly stern, particularly when she alludes to the painful topic of Li’s father, who vanished years ago.
Meanwhile, Li′s unexplained headaches intensify, pushing him to seek medical help, but no cause is found. Overwhelmed, he collapses at work, a breakdown that prises open his memory. Long-suppressed images of his father′s vanishing and a childhood game that ended strangely begin to surface.
Confronting these reawakened memories, Li must navigate his unresolved past and the choices he faces in the present about love and life.
- Director’s Note / Intention
- Shot in my hometown, this film contemplates how we can come to terms with guilt and regret over past events. Like the film′s title, time flows onward like a river, ceasing for no one. I′ve also tried to capture the current zeitgeist of young people - their lives and states of being. Suffused with my personal memories and emotions, this is also a poignant coming-of-age story tinged with heartache. As we swim eastward in the river of time, we must find ways to reconcile with the drifting ghosts of yesterday, no matter how much anguish they cause.