A Summer of Bright Futures

HomeGolden Rooster Films Project MarketProject CollectionA Summer of Bright Futures

Creative Statement

I took the college entrance exam in 2008. My deskmate, a "transfer student" with the best grades in the class, was a gaokao migrant: she had signed a contract with a school for a large bonus, "selling" herself to take the exam in Guangdong, just to help support her poor family. In 2015 I brought my ill mother to live with me in Beijing and gave up the chance to go abroad. I was full of inner conflict and struggle. We clashed constantly, yet I could not let go of her. This film carries traces of my former deskmate and of my own life. It centres on "Chinese-style family love", focuses on the dilemma between feeling and reason, explores the mother-daughter relationship, emphasises women's independent personal growth, and adds reflection on the social background of the college entrance exam.

Synopsis

To save her seriously ill mother, Xiao'ou, a top scorer in the college entrance exam, tears up her admission letter from Peking University and signs a "deed of sale" with a private high school far away in the south, "migrating" south to repeat a year, because the scholarship can keep her mother alive. Her mother follows her everywhere, and she carries a burden far beyond her years. When her mother's condition worsens sharply, she has to give up study time to "sing for money" in a bar. In these days she hates her mother and despairs deeply because of money, yet she is also healed by the days she and her mother spend depending on each other. On the eve of the college entrance exam, her mother learns that Xiao'ou has been singing in a bar. Knowing the sacrifices her daughter has made for her, she chooses to stop treatment. Xiao'ou understands that by "giving up", her mother has paved the way to a bright future for her. So she returns the "deed of sale" and goes back to her old high school, hoping to win the bright future that is hers by fair means.

Genre:

Drama, Family, Realist, Women's Coming-of-age

Director:

Zhang Di

Screenwriter:

Zhang Di | Han Qiuping

Producer:

Han Qiuping

Executive Producer:

Poon Hang-sang

About the Director

About the Screenwriter

Zhang Di: director and screenwriter, who studied under Zhao Xiaoding, a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and Zhang Yimou. Zhang holds a bachelor's degree in theatre directing from the Central Academy of Drama and a master's degree in film studies from the Department of Cinematography of the Beijing Film Academy, and is a member of the Beijing Film Association. Zhang worked as visual director and designer on the films Once Upon a Time and Shadow, and has extensive experience directing commercials. In 2021 Zhang wrote and directed the short film Itch, which won Best Short Film and Best Screenplay from the Beijing Film Association. In 2021 the feature screenplay A Summer of Bright Futures was selected for the Beijing International Film Festival project market, the Golden Rooster Films Project Market, the International Film Festival & Awards Macao project market, the Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis project market and the Silk Road International Film Festival. In 2021 the feature screenplay Go for It, Young Ones! was among the top ten of Alibaba's Xinhuo Project. Han Qiuping: producer and co-writer. Bachelor's degree from the Department of Cinematography of the Beijing Film Academy; graduated in film production from Columbia College Chicago; member of the Beijing Film Association. Worked on the films Legend of the Demon Cat and Return to Earth and the TV series The Glory of Tang Dynasty. Producer of the short film Jiang Weihong's Secret, which won Best Film at the Beijing College Student Film Festival; producer of the feature project The Art of Escape, which won the Most Commercial Potential Award at the 2017 Shanghai International Film Festival project market; producer of the feature project A Summer of Bright Futures, selected for the Beijing International Film Festival project market, the Golden Rooster Films Project Market, the International Film Festival & Awards Macao project market, the Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis project market and the Silk Road International Film Festival. The film project Heroes was selected for the project market and filmmaking workshop of the Jackie Chan Film Project A.

About the Producer

Han Qiuping: producer and co-writer. Bachelor's degree from the Department of Cinematography of the Beijing Film Academy; graduated in film production from Columbia College Chicago; member of the Beijing Film Association. Worked on the films Legend of the Demon Cat and Return to Earth and the TV series The Glory of Tang Dynasty. Producer of the short film Jiang Weihong's Secret, which won Best Film at the Beijing College Student Film Festival; producer of the feature project The Art of Escape, which won the Most Commercial Potential Award at the 2017 Shanghai International Film Festival project market; producer of the feature project A Summer of Bright Futures, selected for the Beijing International Film Festival project market, the Golden Rooster Films Project Market, the International Film Festival & Awards Macao project market, the Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis project market and the Silk Road International Film Festival. The film project Heroes was selected for the project market and filmmaking workshop of the Jackie Chan Film Project A.

About the Executive Producer

Poon Hang-sang: executive producer, director and cinematographer, one of China's leading directors of photography. He won Best Cinematography at the Hong Kong Film Awards in 1993 for Center Stage, starring Maggie Cheung, and Best Cinematography at the Golden Horse Awards in 1991 for Red Dust. In 1984, Homecoming, directed by Yim Ho, was nominated at the Hong Kong Film Awards and selected for the Cannes Film Festival. He has won Best Cinematography at the Hong Kong Film Awards three times.

Logline

To save her seriously ill mother, top scorer Xiao'ou "sells" herself to a school in a southern city to repeat a year. Struggling, she is also caught in the whirlpool of living with her mother day and night. After her mother dies, she decides to honour her mother's hopes by returning the "deed of sale" and winning the bright future that is hers by fair means.