Heavy rain is expected tonight. In the bustling Xiaobei Road in Guangzhou, people run into each other only for a moment. A beauty salon worker who’s just been left by her husband, a dancer who wants to become a woman, and a migrant boy trying to change his life. The socially outcast strangers are brought together by a fireworks show.

Zhang’s piece is similar to the symphonic form of Anderson’s Magnolia (1999): our choices shape the fates of others. By leading us into the heated city, its crowds and melting pot, the Chinese director subtly portrays each character’s story and their journey against the current. In the words of the author, it’s a triptych on one reincarnation, one death, and one exile.

Jury statement: A poetic portrait of fleeting connections, this film intertwines three lives on the margins with grace and compassion. Through moments of loss, transformation, and hope, it reveals the quiet power of chance encounters and the human desire to belong amid life’s restless flow.