Director: Zhong Nianyu

Synopsis

"Sentimental as I am, I should be laughed at for my early grey hair." In 2023, the World Health Organization was set to declare the end of the global pandemic. By 2033, people over 50 will make up more than 50% of the world's population. All signs show that the Earth's climate, human society and age structure are entering premature aging. How should we view this, and how should we respond? This live-action short turns the camera on a man who has just turned 50 and lost his job. Discovering his grey hair and baldness, he moves from initial worry, to fear, concealment and avoidance after receiving an invitation to a class reunion, to relief when he runs into a classmate in the same situation. Premature aging, it turns out, is common among people of the same age, and decline is shared by the whole world. On the one hand, we should face premature aging calmly and directly. On the other, while we cannot change ourselves and bring youth back, we can change the world and bring new life to withered trees.