Synopsis
Young couple Dong and Juan live in an ‘urban village’ (agglomerations of migrant workers and their family) in Shenzhen. They have a turbulent relationship. In order to reestablish the Outdoor Stage, Dong stays on and works temporarily as a guard at the lake. While working there, he meets Yuan who regularly sets fish free in the lake. Juan works in a flower shop and often goes to her client, Mr. Long’s establishment to arrange flowers. Dong returns home and helps Juan set up the Clown Flower Shop. Juan asks him to dress up as a clown when he delivers flowers. On one of his deliveries, Dong visits Yuan at her home. Yuan was once a performer but she left the stage after a rocky relationship. The relationship between these four people becomes gradually displaced. Beneath the ambiguity, there is a side to each character that no one else knows about. As light is slowly cast upon the characters, the darkness of the muggy and wet weather creeps upon them.
Gao Ming
Gao Ming is a film director and scriptwriter based in Shenzhen. His documentary PAIGU has been selected in numerous of film festivals including HotDocs, Singapore International Film Festival amongst others. His short fiction film AH SONG has been screened at the Asiatica Film Festival in Rome. His first fiction film DAMP SEASON has premiered at International Film Festival Rotterdam, Bright Future section in 2020 and has won the Grand Prize at the 21st Jeonju International Film Festival.
Director's statement
Everyone leads their own life, which can be full of joy and sadness. But what lies between joy and sadness? Everyone has two sides, an inner side and an outer side. But what lies in between? As the weather grows dank and humid, life feels complex and ambiguous. It is like a jacket soaked: on the surface it looks the same, but what happens when you put the jacket on? Through the lens of the camera, we slowly feel the triviality of that gray area of life, of the things we want to get off our chest but cannot say out loud, and of that feeling of wanting to fly but falling flat on our face with a painful thud. In this muggy, hot season, how do we cope with the exhaustion of having our bodies enveloped with dank air? How do we extract the toxins from our entrapped lives?
