Yi shi yi ke

Now.Here
Wen Hui believes he was born to be a goalkeeper, though nobody remembers how he first got into football. As a child, amid the turmoil of his parents’ divorce, he was sent to therapy after practice. But he soon discovered that, when confusing incidents demand a response, there is comfort in the structure of the game. The odds of saving a penalty after coming on as a substitute are statistically stacked against him, but that is nothing to be sad about.
by Hao Zhao
with Qi Lu, Yuxuan Liu, Huiying Zhu, Xun Liu
People’s Republic of China 2023 Mandarin 12’ Colour World premiere recommendation: 14 years and up

With

  • Qi Lu (Wen Hui )
  • Yuxuan Liu (Wen Hui, young)
  • Huiying Zhu (Ting)
  • Xun Liu (Ma Cheng )

Crew

Director Hao Zhao
Screenplay Hao Zhao, Yao Zhang
Cinematography Jiahao Zhang
Editing Hao Zhao, Guangxin Nie
Music innni
Sound Design Aymeric Dupas
Sound Yue Ma
Production Design Lian Liu
Costumes Lian Liu
Make-Up Ting Shen
Casting Yun Cheng
Assistant Directors Yao Zhang, Shuyao Chen
Production Manager Yuanxing Hu
Producers Hao Zhao, Haozheng Li, Yang Wang

Produced by

Playtime Productions

Hao Zhao

Born in Rizhao, China, the director graduated from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts. His short film Fang ke (An Invitation; co-director: Yeung Tung) premiered in the 2021 Semaine de la Critique at Cannes where he also participated in the Next Step workshop. Supported by the Hubert Bals Fund for script development, he is currently developing his debut feature film.

Filmography (short films)

2013 Serve the People 2014 S.HE 2021 Fang ke (An Invitation); co-director: Yeung Tung 2022 This Must Be the Place 2023 Yi shi yi ke (Now.Here)

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2023