Ping jing

The Calming

Forum 2020

Lin only talks of the break-up once, at lunch with her friend in Japan, where her installation is being shown. It goes unmentioned when she visits her parents back in China or stays with her friend in Hong Kong, even though the removal company has taken her things to the new apartment already. Most of the time she’s alone though and it’s tempting to read emotion into her face, possibly because it’s so rare to see a film that shows a woman being by herself and by extension just being herself, barely defined by those around her. This could simply be how Lin lives, she’s a filmmaker and often on the move, each trip blurring into the next. Her gaze is inquisitive wherever she goes, as if collecting material for a film: looking out of the window of the new apartment, observing the girl in the same hospital ward, examining light and foliage in the parks she hikes through. On trains, in cars, on boats, she watches different landscapes pass before her, snowy mountains, neon cityscapes, misty plains, as long as her eyes stay open. They’re closed too at the music recital, though the tears flow nonetheless: here, as always, looking and feeling go hand in hand.

by Song Fang
with Qi Xi, Ye Yuzhu, Song Dijin, Makiko Watanabe, Chen Yadi, Pei Pei 2020 Mandarin, English, Japanese 89’ Colour World premiere

With

Qi Xi (Lin Tong)
Ye Yuzhu (Lin Tong's Mother)
Song Dijin (Lin Tong's Father)
Makiko Watanabe (Makiko)
Chen Yadi (Xuemei)
Pei Pei (He Pei)

Crew

Written and Directed by	Song Fang
Cinematography	Lu Songye
Editing	Song Fang
Sound Design	Zhang Yang
Sound	Qiao Mingzi
Production Design	Peng Shaoying, Liu Cheng-Hung
Costumes	Zhang Juan
Make-Up	Wang Lamei
Casting	Dai Xiaolu
Assistant Director	Li Changlong
Production Manager	Wang Yingliang
Producers	Jia Zhang-ke, Steven Xiang
Co-Producers	Zhao Yijun, Zhang Dong, Shozo Ichiyama
Co-Production	Xstream Pictures Peking, VR China

Produced by

Fabula Entertainment

Huanxi Media Group

Photos

Song Fang

Born in Jiangsu, People's Republic of China. After studying Film directing at the Institut national supérieur des arts du spectacle et des techniques de diffusion (INSAS) in Brussels, she completed a master's degree in Film Directing at the Beijing Film Academy. Her feature film debut Ji yi wang zhe wo (2012) was shown at international film festivals.

Filmography

2009 Gao bie (Good-bye); 30 min. 2010 Yulu; 20 min., co-directed by Jia Zhangke, Wei Tie, Tao Chen, Chen Ziheng, Wang Zizhao, Tan Chui Mui 2012 Ji yi wang zhe wo (Memories Look at Me); 87 min.

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2020