Experiencing Interruptions?

Xiaogao gonna die LONELY

Xiaogao wants love, or at least proof that she will not end up alone. Around her, friends, parents, suitors and strangers turn romance into a parade of judgments: marriage, money, fertility, obedience, and the promise of a child. As her encounters slip from flirtation into absurd performance, her body and desires become objects to be watched, measured and corrected. Blending deadpan comedy, surreal tableaux and experimental fantasy, Xiaogao gonna die LONELY follows a young woman caught between the need to be loved and the terror of being left behind.

  • Junyan Gao
    Director
    Seeding, Blossoming, Fruiting
  • Junyan Gao
    Writer
    Seeding, Blossoming, Fruiting
  • Junsong Ling
    Writer
    Seeding, Blossoming, Fruiting
  • Junsong Ling
    Producer
    Seeding, Blossoming, Fruiting
  • Junyan Gao
    Key Cast
    "Xiaogao"
  • Tianyue Du
    Key Cast
    "Ms.Du"
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    小高也许会孤独终老
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Women, Comedy, Experimental, Fantasy, Fiction
  • Runtime:
    7 minutes 36 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 25, 2025
  • Production Budget:
    9,500 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    China
  • Country of Filming:
    China
  • Language:
    Chinese
  • Shooting Format:
    R3D
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur

    Switzerland
    November 8, 2025
  • Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival

    Indonesia
    December 2, 2025
  • REGARD - Saguenay International short film Festival

    Canada
    March 20, 2026
  • Columbus International Film & Animation Festival

    United States
    April 25, 2026
  • Humboldt International Film Festival

    United States
    April 24, 2026
  • Central Illinois Feminist Film Festival

    United States
    March 22, 2026
    Award Winner
Director Biography - Junyan Gao

A native of Shanxi, with a background in French language and literature, the director excels at exploring curiosity and wandering, and dares to be angry and confused. Her works focus on and respect feminine qualities, truthfully express and explore loneliness, and encourage full burning of passion with passion and honesty.
As writer and producer, her short film Seeding, Blossoming, Fruiting was selected for Leeds IFF, Norwegian Short FF, Nashville FF, Bogotá Short FF, Strasbourg European Fantastic FF, FANCINE – Fantastic FF of Málaga etc.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Rather than telling a story about romantic fear, I was more interested in emotional instability — how desire becomes projection, how hope turns into panic, and how loneliness can distort the way we move through the world.

Xiaogao is not simply “looking for love,” but struggling against the unbearable possibility that love may never arrive in the form she longs for. I wanted the film to feel unstable in the same way longing feels unstable: optimistic one second, exposed the next. Rather than smoothing out that emotional mess, I wanted to stay inside it.

The film uses awkwardness, comic unease, and tonal slippage to hold a character who is both difficult and vulnerable, absurd and sincere. For me, that instability is where the truth of the film lives.