AFTER HER
Director: Jane ZHANG; Macao
SYNOPSIS:
On the day XiaZhu leaves her parents’ home, she finds her teenage self hiding in a wardrobe. Between memories and discussions about youth and maturity, the two eventually merge. By morning, only XiaZhu remains, carrying traces of her youth into an uncertain future.
DEATH IN TOKYO
Director: Phạm Hoàng Minh Thy; Vietnam
SYNOPSIS:
In Tokyo, Vietnamese Huong meets Yakusho, and together they plan to commit suicide in the same canal where a famous writer died. When they arrive, a film crew is there and asks Huong to play a floating corpse, while Yakusho operates the rope system. Performance and reality become blurred, forcing both to face their fear of life and death.
DELIVERY
Director: Sreeram PATTATHIL; India
SYNOPSIS:
Raghav, a lonely young writer in Mumbai, clashes with Somesh, a middle-aged food deliveryman. From awkward encounters emerges an unlikely friendship, showing how small gestures and human connections can transform loneliness into belonging.
FORGIVE ME, FRIEND
Director: Tynystan TEMIRZHAN; Kyrgyzstan
SYNOPSIS:
Seventeen-year-old Sanzhar wakes from a dream where he was beside his best friend’s mother. Oppressed by confusion and desire, he cannot understand what he feels.
I DON’T WANNA GROW UP
Director: KONG Ho Yan; Hong Kong
SYNOPSIS:
During a summer with his grandmother in the fishing village of Tai O, nine-year-old Skinny befriends Lo Ting, a sea boy with webbed fingers. Between games and secrets, they discover a deep bond. As Skinny prepares to return home, Lo Ting reveals an ancient curse that makes the end of summer both beautiful and painful.
LAND BREEZE
Director: XU Hangcheng; China
SYNOPSIS:
Seven-year-old Fon goes with her father, Pakpoom, to visit one of his friends and meets Maek, a nine-year-old boy. They spend the day tending to plants in a cactus farm, where Maek gifts a cactus to Fon. When it is time to return home, Fon hears Maek call Pakpoom “dad”.
THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
Director: LAM Lo; Hong Kong
SYNOPSIS:
Mauve, a divorced Chinese American woman, falls in love with her giant elephant ear plant, which she calls Elly. When she makes her dendrophilia public, it shocks her daughter and the community. As Elly begins to wither, Mauve and her daughter face prejudice and old wounds, discovering a new form of empathy and acceptance.
THE NIGHT JOURNEY
Director: HAN Tianchu; China
SYNOPSIS:
Bai Jun visits his childhood friend Zhu Hong, now married. In the hideout they once shared, the two recall old games, memories, and the earring Bai Jun once gave him. That night, he dreams of a rider on a white horse and discovers the lost earring.
