Chinese story that hits home

With her recent directorial debut meeting critical acclaim, one young woman is helping share real Chinese narratives with the world, Wang Xingwei reports.

To leave their hometown or not to leave, in 32-year-old director Wu Shuang's eyes, that is a question for many young people, including herself.

In her directorial debut Summer Diary, a film nominated at this year's China Movie Channel Media Focus Unit held in Shanghai, the protagonist Xiaohai, a schoolboy who lives alone in the desert with his father, becomes sick of the monotony and decides to go into town to find his mother and finish his writing assignment. A series of unexpected things occur, becoming a rich source of material for his summer vacation essay, which lends the film its name.

Following Xiaohai's footsteps out of the desert, the audience can contemplate the relationship between Xiaohai and his hometown.

The story is set against the background of an out-of-the-way town in the middle of two big deserts. Wu said that much of her inspiration came from a journey she once took by chance to Northwest China's Gansu province. "I was struck by the unique natural environment there," she recalled.

According to Wu, the question of leaving one's hometown faced by young people seems to be more apparent in this less developed area. "I've always been interested in the topic of 'hometown', and I think this county is a fitting place to shoot my directorial debut."

Instead of setting a serious tone, Wu opted to present the story from a child's perspective, endowing the film with lighthearted elements. "With half-formed ideas of 'departure' and 'hometown', the carefree Xiaohai gets his first glimpse of the grown-up world, which I think is well worth seeing," Wu explained.

In pursuit of spontaneity, Wu cast laypeople in the film. "The whole cast has no prior acting experience. I simply want the children to act out their daily lives," she said.

Wu's directorial debut has been widely recognized in the film industry. During its production period, it was selected as a WIP(Work in Progress) project in four renowned film festivals, including the Shanghai International Film Festival and Golden Rooster Film Festival. So far, Summer Diary has been officially selected and screened at several esteemed film festivals, including FIRST International Film Festival and Beijing International Film Festival.