DISTANTWATER WON‘T QUENCH IMMEDIATE THIRST
Zhou Zijie | China, USA 2024 | 23 min. | Chinese with engl. subtitles
FRIDAY, 09.05. | 5 pm
De France, Saal 1 | TICKETS
Part of the Short Film Program ESSA I
European premiere
After completing his studies abroad, Zijie Zhou returns to China where he is faced with a barrage of questions from his parents about his career plans and future aspirations. He tells them of his intention to pursue a career as a documentary filmmaker, triggering the most heated argument the family ever had.
DISTANT WATER WON’T QUENCH IMMEDIATE THIRST presents the clash of values from different generations. It takes a while before the family establishes a mutual understanding and recalls the importance of love and solidarity.
Director: Zijie Zhou
Camera: Zijie Zhou
Editing: Zijie Zhou
Sound: Jedy Xu
Production: Lisa Leeman, Zhixin Cheng
BIOGRAPHY
Hailing from Chongqing, a native of the Ba-Shu region. Graduated with a Master’s degree in Film Production from the University of Southern California. Former documentary cinematographer for VICE China. After VICE China was banned, shifted to commercial advertising for several years and later spent some years exploring narrative short and feature films. After a long detour, decided to return to documentary filmmaking, hoping to live a bit more authentically while telling stories of personal interest.
Has collaborated with the HBOxVICE international documentary team. Directed works have been nominated for the Best New Director award in the REELFOCUS short film section at the 2022 Beijing International Film Festival, and shortlisted for the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards, as well as the ultra-short film section at the FIRST Youth Film Festival in Xining. Short films have been acquired and archived by the University of Michigan and showcased on platforms like CATHAYPLAY and NOWNESS.
