Angel's Mirror

The story began in the early 1990s’ China in a factory complex. A little boy who was just moved in with his family, looked around curiously in the residential community.
Until he found that, some little boys of similar age who were playing ping-pong, usually kept eyes on a little girl at a high window. He began trying to attract her attention and make further talking.
He wished to know her story.

  • Cheng Chao
    Director
    WHERE IS BEIJING, ONLY A THOUGHT, MY BRIDE
  • Shi Qi
    Producer
  • Hao Yiming
    Key Cast
  • Zhang Zhijing
    Key Cast
  • Zhang Lei
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    14 minutes 10 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 28, 2018
  • Country of Origin:
    China
  • Country of Filming:
    China
  • Language:
    Chinese
  • Shooting Format:
    Digita
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2:35
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Curtas Vila Do Conde
    Vila Do Conde
    Portugal
    World
    Curtinhas Competition
  • Vienna Independent Film Festival
    Vienna
    Austria
Distribution Information
  • Welcome Aboard
    Country: Worldwide
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Cheng Chao

Cheng Chao, male, born in 1980, lives in Beijing.
WHERE IS BEIJING was nominated as Rome Film Festival’s best short film
ONLY A THOUGHT was selected for the short film corner of the 70th Festival de CANNES.
MY BRIDE was nominated as the best short of the 2nd Singapore Independent Film Festival.
Meanwhile, the film was selected and screened by the 10th Beijing Love Queer Cinema Week.

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Director Statement

ANGEL’S MIRROR is a warm, beautiful story with both smiles and tears. The theme we would like to present includes love, expectation and hope. Everyone should have the rights to love and to be loved. Everyone has expectation of life. Everyone should try to bring hope but not disappointing to others. At the beginning of the film, there was an imperfect angel model on the recycling bike, whose eyes were watching in the direction of a mirror in the boy’s hand. The angel model is seen as a metaphor of the disabled girl in the film.

Here I would like to introduce two imperfect stories that had inspired me when I was doing the screenwriting of ANGEL’S MIRROR.

One of them was told by an old friend of mine. Once on his way home, he saw a pretty lady throwing paper airplanes from a high window. He was stuck on her pretty face, so he kept hanging around for days. One day, he finally plucked up his courage to talk to her. Unexpectedly, he saw the lady in a wheelchair without legs when he knocked the door. Then he fled away after two seconds of speechless. “I certainly broke her heart”, he told me, “I wish I had stayed longer at that moment, at least I should have say hello to her.”
 
The other story was from another friend of mine. Once he went by a dying cat on the side of road when he was driving. He didn’t stop the car. After few minutes, he decided to save the poor cat. But when he returned back to the cat, it had already stopped breathing. “What if I had picked it up at the first time I saw it”, said my friend.
 
Many people may have such moments, feeling bad, blaming themselves for being so indifferent and selfish to someone innocent. Normally we don’t have a chance to make it up. In this film, I just want to give a chance, to heal the regrets and inferiorities.

The small mirror reflects attention and expectation, while the large mirror means care and hope. If we cannot avoid misfortunes, at least we can undo the hurt, to reduce regrets.