Annular Eclipse

After her mother’s death, young Ying Nuo’s relationship with her father became distant and tense. Years later, she returned to her hometown with her five-year-old daughter, Diu Diu, with the hope to leave Diu Diu with her father so that she could go abroad to attend competition. However, her father rejected her for various reasons, forcing Ying Nuo to stay in her hometown temporarily. Yet, behind the warm and harmonious community life, both the father and the daughter have their own hidden concerns… The film takes the idea of “palliative care” as a starting perspective to depict the pain and warmth experienced by an ordinary family when facing separation and loss.

Mr. Zhu has reached a point in his career where he is left with only a few acting offers on the table, so he hops on a ferry in search of his wife, on the island where they first met. It is low season on the island, with few visitors in plain sight. Yet Zhu continues to actively photograph everything on the island. He encounters various islanders, gets familiar with a hotel owner, becomes attracted to a primary school teacher, and engages in romance with the manager of a local dance club. While he begins a fascinating journey, his wife is still nowhere to be found…