Leaves Return to the Roots

Suhao Zhang(b. 2003), a Jiangsu-born filmmaker and musician, has earned acclaim across film festivals: his solo-directed Tico Tico Life(hybrid docu-fiction) screened at the 19th FIRST International Film Festival’s FIRST PIONEER section, while Frozen Moments, Fading Echoes(Machinima) premiered at FIRST FANTASTIC Film Festival. Earlier, as a sophomore, he co-directed Crossing the Yangtze River, shortlisted for China’s 14th Documentary Academy Awards. His practice dissects body, identity, and societal dynamics through fragmented visuals and ambient sound—eschewing rigid interpretation, he prioritizes raw, sensory immersion to provoke visceral engagement with lived realities.

Wang Huxinya (b. 2004) is a filmmaker and producer currently studying at Nanjing University of the Arts. Her works have screened at the 19th FIRST International Film Festival’s FIRST PIONEER section and the FIRST FANTASTIC Film Festival, including Quality Life and the experimental documentary Frozen, Flowing. She works primarily with narrative forms, drawing on experimental methods, archival materials, and body-centered storytelling. Her films explore subtle emotional bonds between women and everyday gestures as sites of self-reconstruction.