I have always been interested in the intergenerational conflicts between parents and children. In Western culture, parricide (the killing of one’s parent) is a common theme in literature, from the Greek mythology of Oedipus, to Shakespeare’s Hamlet. However, in the East Asian context, such conflicts often end in filicide (the killing of the kids). Nezha, the mythical figure familiar to the East Asian audience, commits suicide while trying to escape from the filial tradition in the patriarchal society of ancient China.

 

    Given the inspiration, I wrote and directed the 2-minute short film “Loop”, concentrating on the desperate parent of a kid who has been in the vegetative state for 5 years. While the kid hopes his mother to let him go and set him free, his mother chooses to not give up on him, which is actually a never-ending torture to the kid. 

 

During the directing process, the biggest challenge I encountered was to find a location in Beijing to film the underwater scenes. With my crew members, we solved the problem by ordering a simple above-ground-pool and placed it at the scene. Filming underwater was a first-time experience to me, and I was pretty satisfied with the outcome, thanks to my talented cinematographer.

 

I really like the final result of my film “Loop,” and I hope you will also enjoy watching it!