Director: Chen Xi

Synopsis

The legend of the "everlasting flower": a hundred years ago, the first church was built on the island, and the islanders' beliefs were challenged by outside influences. A native islander fled, the first person to leave the volcanic island in the 300 million years since it formed. His departure angered the volcano, which erupted again, and the everlasting flower was buried beneath the island's soil together with the scorching lava and the drowned souls. Since then, no one has been able to leave the island. When the sky is lit by fire again, an everlasting flower lies buried at the brightest spot under the flames, and it is the key to leaving the island. Anyone who wants to leave must leave behind a soul in exchange. At ten, the boy A Shu killed his eleven-year-old companion, A Bin. Ten years later, A Shu still has not left the island, yet he longs every day to leave, and he wants to find the everlasting flower that will let him go. He has witnessed death and experienced isolation, and A Bin's wandering ghost has stayed by his side, becoming his closest companion. Over time, the "search" gradually loses its purpose, and A Shu is bound by exhaustion and disappointment. On the verge of giving up, he sees in the distance a torch blazing on the horizon, like the everlasting flower. He runs toward it and, at the edge of a cliff covered in flames, finds the "everlasting flower" glittering in the grass.