Wen Hui’s dream is to become the best goalkeeper. As a child, he was sent to therapy when his parents were getting a tumultuous divorce. But soon the game itself became his therapy: when life’s confusing situations demand action, he is indecisive, but the football pitch is his comfort zone. Even when the odds are statistically stacked against him and penalty kicks draw close, he knows what to do.

A close-up of a young man’s psychology, with touches of European sports drama by Chinese-born director Hao Zhao, who studied at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. In recent years, the young filmmaker has successfully entered the festival circuit – his short film An Invitation screened at Cannes Critics’ Week in 2021, and this year his latest work Now. Here was selected for the Generation 14plus Short Film Competition at Berlinale. Zhao is currently working on his debut feature-length project.