Gong Yuxi

Loosely based on The Tale of Darkness, a traditional song of mourning, the film follows Wang Zhun, a director in search of inspiration for his new script, as he embarks on an unpredictable trek across China’s remote Shennongjia mountains in Hubei province with an urbane producer, Ding Hongmei; a young actor named Bai; and his loyal photographer, Du Chun. The journey delivers a relentless series of unexpected physical hardships and subtle emotional ebbs and flows on the protagonists.

Contemporary Shanghai. Four women are pursuing happiness in their lives. Their stories intertwine, as if they were those of a single person. A young executive argues with her fiancé about starting a family. A PhD student clashes with her professor about her thesis about happiness. A teenager fails to find the perfect boyfriend who meets her father's expectations. A young woman dreaming of the US is stuck in a cab with the cabdriver in love with her. The respected director, winner of multiple awards at major international festivals, returns with an intricately structured story about the search for happiness.