HAORAN
ZENG

Slices of my life.
Words pumping blood into my heart.
When the senses compose a poem.

From my first film, Island in Green, to Family Livings, and then About You About Me, and now Crows Gathering Before Winter, the personas in my visual world are all in a state of loss. This is not only related to my upbringing during a period of significant change in Chinese society but also stems from the May 12, 2008, earthquake that struck my hometown. The earthquake, rated at 8.0 magnitude, centered in Wenchuan, sent shockwaves throughout Sichuan Province, shattering countless families and claiming numerous lives, leaving many displaced. During that time, we set up tents in evacuation squares, spending nights amid the oppressive heat and sleeplessness, accompanied by alarms and news broadcasts with thousands of other families. In those restless nights, I stepped out of the tent and realized human fate's unpredictable and unstable nature, akin to the uncertain ground beneath our feet. From then on, I gained a certain ability: my body could react within a second to earthquakes of any scale (this ability was later confirmed during several small-scale earthquakes I experienced in Japan, the United States, and other places over the years). It was as if a primitive bodily self-defense mechanism had been activated. With it, I became sensitive to the pervasive, almost tangible "loss" that always envelops us.
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FAMILY LIVINGS (2020)