Synopsis
After spending some time in New York, filmmaker Shuli Huang returns to his hometown of Wenzhou. Without his lover, who is about to start studying in Belgium, he is alone with his family. Huang’s mother can’t accept that her son is gay, and begs him to lead a “normal” life. We hear their conversations in the form of a voice-over, as they run the gamut from self-reproach and wailing to emotional blackmail. Motherly love and social conventions collide painfully time after time, without any resolution.
Press
“Shuli Huang’s short film sounds like a long poem interspersed with magnificent portraits, contrasted by the reality of a strict society.”
Laure Dion for FORMATCOURT.COM
Festivals
Sundance Film Festival, USA, Winner of Short Film Jury Award Nonfiction – 2023
Cannes Film Festival, France, Winner of Queer Palm – 2022
DOK Leipzig, Germany, Winner of Best Documentary Short Film – 2022
DOC NYC, USA, Special Mention: Best Short Film – 2022
Director's Biography
Shuli Huang is a writer-director and cinematographer born in Wenzhou, China. After graduating from Beijing Film Academy in 2019, he moved to New York City as an MFA candidate at NYU the graduate film program.
Farewell, My Hometown, his feature debut as a cinematographer won the New Currents Award at the 26th Busan International Film Festival. His second short film, Will You Look At Me, was presented at the 61st La Semaine De La Critique in short film competition and won Queer Palm of Festival de Cannes 2022.