So Close, So Far

A son turns the camera on his father as the family sinks deeper into debt — and discovers that closeness and distance can be the same thing.

Director Zhu Yudi filmed this devastating chronicle of the gradual decline of a family falling into debt, primarily in the company of his father. In recent years, his father's renovation company has been sinking deeper and deeper into debt due to investments in various projects in Chinese cities. Zhu accompanies his father on one of his regular business trips, during which he attempts to collect unpaid debts from clients. However, he also captures the escalating family disputes and his father's descent into ever-greater despair. Through one personal tragedy, the film shows the existential distress caused by the recent crisis in the Chinese real estate sector. The young filmmaker uses a professional camera to capture confrontational situations and composes them in a way that makes him not only an observer but also a direct participant, commenting on events from behind the camera while talking to his protagonists. His film is an immediate, authentic drama that remains in the intimate sphere but at the same time speaks to the state of Chinese society.

Director — ZHU Yudi

Zhu Yudi makes his debut with the film So Close, So Far. He graduated from Hong Kong Baptist University with a master's degree in film production. An aspiring filmmaker and screenwriter, he is particularly interested in exploring the flexible boundaries between the storytelling of the real and the fictional, and would like to devote himself to projects that straddle the line between documentary and fiction.