15 minutes. One man returns home. Everything he knew has been sold for condos.
Short film directed by Lang Wu. In 2021, Absence was nominated for Best Short Film at the 74th Cannes. After ten years in prison, Han Jiangyu returns to Hainan Island. Housing construction is booming, his childhood friend is now rich. Searching for traces of the familiar, Jiangyu meets his old love who now has a daughter.
Cinematography
Glittering construction sites vs. turquoise memory.
Acting
Lee Kang-sheng's entire performance in single glances.
Director
Wu Lang
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Cannes 2021 was pandemic-reduced; this played to masked audiences who'd also experienced dislocation. The film's timing was almost too perfect.
Lang Wu studied architecture before film—explains why buildings feel like characters and characters feel like ghosts in unfinished rooms.
CN
