Shanghai Daughter is adapted from my real-life experiences. The seed of this film was sown 14 years ago, when my father had just passed away from illness. His death and absence drove me to embark on a journey alone to the remote tropical land. Over the years, repeated personal visits fostered a deep bond between me and the land and people there, from which I discovered various touching elements and diverse truths that could form a film.

Rooted in my family history, this film expands its thematic scope to an exploration of ecofeminism as well as the pivotal chapters of China's social history. And for me, it is also an experiment to explore a non-dual realm that blurs the lines between fiction and documentary, and between the private and the public, through a simple and meditative cinematic language. Beyond the non-actors/real-life individuals and the female lead, the landscapes, flora, and fauna of southwest China are also portrayed as silent characters in their own right.

I hope this film can immerse the audience in a tangible geographical space, inviting them to walk, observe, listen, and feel alongside the characters. In this way, I come to empathize with the delicate and miraculous causal interconnections that bind different species—it's a journey of discovery, and also a journey of awakening.