2021-03-12

New Film Express | Golden Goblet Award Official Selection “Tracing Her Shadow” to be Released on Mar

“Tracing Her Shadow”, a Golden Goblet Award official selection of the 23rd Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) is set to be released on March 19. The film is produced by Kawase Naomi and Jia Zhangke, directed and acted by Song Pengfei himself, and stars Estelle Wu, Ying Ze, Kunimura Jun and Masatoshi Nagase.

The story of Tracing Her Shadow is set in 2005. In the film, Grandma Chen, who is in her seventies, goes to Nara, Japan to find her adopted daughter Chen Lihua, who has been missing for many years. With the help of the returned orphan Ozawa and the retired policeman Kazuo, Grandma Chen has found many people who have come into contact with and helped Chen Lihua. During this long journey, a closeness grows up between Grandma Chen, Ozawa and Kazuo. The three people, all with their own regrets, rely on each other, making the journey full of warmth.

Taking the special group of post-war orphans as the starting point, the film combines the changing times with the destinies and emotional changes of the ordinary people. In a humorous and relaxed way, the story shows the process of searching for relatives while presenting the kind and nice customs and practices of Nara. The special Sino-Japan relationship is displayed, and the greatness of mother love and family affection is highlighted, making the film warm and soothing.

Estelle Wu, who plays Grandma Chen, is a well-known veteran actress in China. She was granted the Best Supporting Actress award at the 31st Golden Rooster Award. In the press conference for Golden Goblet Award official selection of 2020 SIFF, she told us her feeling about the film:

“I don’t want the film weighs heavily on our minds. Instead, I hope through this story, we can see the brilliance of humanity and the great love of the world,” said Song Pengfei when speaking of his original intention.

Song Pengfei has partnered with several famous directors, such as Hong Shangxiu. Some of his works have been shortlisted in the Venice International Film Festival. Tracing Her Shadow is his third feature film. His cooperation with filmmakers from different countries and regions has made his style more diverse. Tracing Her Shadow boasts delicate and vivid images, unhurried narrative rhythm, and restrained emotional expression, which is crucial for it to get shortlisted in the Golden Goblet Award official selection of SIFF.

Tracing Her Shadow is co-produced by Chinese and Japanese crews and features an ensemble cast. The Japanese actor Kunimura Jun, who plays the retired policeman Kazuo, like Estelle Wu, is a masterful actor. He and Takakura Ken co-starred in the crime film Black Rain. In 2019, he won the Best Supporting Actor award of the Blue Dragon Film Awards of South Korea. Moreover, Tracing Her Shadow also invited the established photographer Pen-jung Liao to act as the director of photography, and Suzuki Keiichi was responsible for the music of the film.

As the highest award of SIFF, Golden Goblet Award contains four competition sections, which are main competition for feature-length films, and competitions specialized in documentary, animation and international short films. Registration is open to films from across the world. It grants 12 awards at every session. The jury panels, which are made up of professionals in the world film industry, watch all the entries, discuss them and vote for the winners.