Chasing the Sun – Films – Visions du Réel

Zhu ri ji hua

Ruosong Huang
France | 2025 | 112 min
World premiere
Language : Mandarin
Subtitles : English, French

Twenty-something Peng Tian returns to China after studying in London. He feels adrift. His friends are enjoying themselves, his father wanders around chanting advertising slogans, while his mother expounds her inevitable plan for his brilliant future: boss, father, business owner. Sprawled on the couch, he tries to resist the demands of a rapidly evolving Chinese society.

Peng Tian was born in the 90s. Like so many others, he was an only child, studied abroad, and returned to his country, which was experiencing an economic boom. The protagonist is a fictional character inspired by the experiences of filmmaker Ruosong Huang, whose debut film Chasing the Sun offers a snapshot of a generation.
This hybrid documentary follows non-professional actors playing their own roles in a fictional scenario that aims to convey a state of mind and an era. Peng Tian is pampered, taking it easy, tucked away in his family’s beige living room. He believes he has his whole life ahead of him, with as many opportunities as there are new pairs of sneakers. Nothing has prepared him for adult life: neither the comforting words of his publicist father nor the scolding of his overly protective mother. Even his romantic relationship is kept at a distance and under control. But sooner or later, he will have to give in to the demands of family and society, and find his place among ruthless entrepreneurs and omnipresent consumerism. A sharp, striking, and audacious portrayal by a new and eminently contemporary voice.
Anne Delseth

Chasing the Sun, 2025
Muchacha Joven, 2014
Peng Tian, 2014
Late Autumn, 2013