Forward Future
Director: Shen Tao | Starring: Xiang Shizhen, He Qiang, Long Zezhi, Shen Shiyu | China | 2024
Tianzhen, a middle-aged woman living in a remote village in southern China, is a housewife whose husband, Bai Wenjun, passed away several years ago. Now that her daughter, Bai Can, is married and living in the county, and her son, Bai Guang, has settled in Shanghai with his wife. After spending half her life raising her children and caring for her elderly parents, Tianzhen finally finds herself with time - something she hasn't had in decades. But the sudden quiet unsettles her. With no one to care for and nothing to fill her days, a sense of restlessness takes hold. She longs to leave her hometown and see the world beyond the hills, yet that desire remains a plan never acted upon. When her son returns from Shanghai for a visit, the lines between reality and imagination begin to blur. Her still, familiar world begins to shift - dreams, memories, and longing intertwine...