Private Project

Illuminant Object

An extraordinary light incident ten years ago led to the mysterious disappearance of Zhang Peng's friend. Ten years later, a film crew director approached Zhang Peng with the idea of returning to Xiangshan, the site of the incident—a remote small town built during the Sino-Soviet confrontation in the 1960s, known as the "Third Front"—to shoot a film seeking the truth. In their interactions with the locals, the different accounts of the event from the interviewees led the investigation into a web of mysteries. After numerous twists and turns, when they finally entered the secret cave base, artificially excavated during the Sino-Soviet confrontation for "Third Front construction" and "preparation for war and famine," they discovered that the so-called mysteries were deliberately arranged by the director. But is this the whole truth? In this enigmatic base, it is no longer clear who is the manipulator and who is being manipulated. As the dust-covered concrete door is pushed open, what unfolds before their eyes far exceeds their imagination...

  • Yu Zhao
    Director
  • Yu Zhao
    Writer
  • Xiao Shenyang
    Key Cast
    "Peng"
  • Duo Zhang
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Genres:
    Fantasy, Thriller
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 29 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    August 1, 2024
  • Country of Origin:
    China
  • Country of Filming:
    China
  • Language:
    Mandarin Chinese
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Yu Zhao

Zhao Yu is a screenwriter and director. He started his career in advertising and then graduated from Beijing Film Academy with a Bachelor's degree in directing. His science fiction suspense film BUG was selected in the short film unit of the 11th Chinese Young Generation Film Forum, the Beijing Independent Film Festival in 2016, and the Dhaka International Film Festival in 2017. His short film Structure of Crystal won the Top ten experimental films of the 6th China Independent Film Festival. His short film works have been selected in the Asian Experimental Film and Video Forum and the Loud Exhibition in 2012, and the International Experimental Media Art Exhibition Asia unit in 2010.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

This is a film about the pursuit of truth. At some point in 2020, due to the pandemic, the internet became my sole channel for accessing external information. While scrolling through my phone, a sudden question arose: are the people and lives on the screen truly as they appear to me? Or are all that I see merely realities filtered and heavily subjected to subjective corrections? I suddenly found myself uncertain. Do we genuinely concern ourselves with true reality? Or is every reality we hear mixed with our latent taste for curiosity? It struck me then how vast the chasm is between an observer's selectivity and the reality we perceive and comprehend. Apart from the concealed elements, the narrative itself and our preferences continue to distort everything we may see. And perhaps the truth behind it all far exceeds our imagination.

And so I began writing this story about truth, about what lies behind screens and narratives. How will we, as observers, face the truth itself? This is a tale about perspectives and identity, a tale of an observer ultimately consumed by the truth.
I set the story in a remote, small town in Southwest China, once a strategic base constructed during the Sino-Soviet confrontation in the 1960s, known as the "Third Front" era. Numerous abandoned caves, dug out of the hollowed mountains, remain from this time. These, along with distant memories, form the inception of science fiction elements within reality. Reality, memory, truth, and search—a journey thus begins. The remote, enigmatic old "Third Front" city, mist-shrouded mountains, abandoned industrial remnants, obscure dialects, and convoluted and elusive storytelling—all these form the film's atmosphere. It's akin to following a camera through a path with countless divergences; questioning, discovering, avoiding, colliding, lingering—yet never fully able to fathom the entire truth.

Regarding the production design, we emphasize the remnants of time and bygone eras, setting the backdrop for the entire film. In terms of cinematography, owing to the story's premise involving the camera, it not only serves to guide the audience through uncharted events but also participates in the performance. The first half uses the camera's logical insertion, leading the audience through the tale with stable shots. The latter half shifts to handheld filming, enhancing the live feel, all while involving the camera in the final quest for truth. Light is used to best match reality. Sound design highlights an ambiance of reality by prioritizing on-site environmental noise. As for music, the film shuns instrumentals, relying instead on electronics and sound effects to establish the atmosphere. Concerning performances, actors revert to everyday realism, where sincere and simplistic acting hopes to draw viewers into the narrative.

Thus, the storyline evolves, with the remarkable and the strange, fulfilling curiosity yet negating the genuine significance of the past and present. Possibly, both the search and the evasion of truth embody instinct, with the only meaningful output being the process itself.