Always

Young Gong lives in a remote mountain village, cared for by his grandparents. After his father lost an arm in an accident, his mother left the family. The adults around him place their hopes on Gong’s academic success, believing it’s the key to escaping poverty. Growing up in rural Hunan Province, Gong finds himself torn between innocent daydreams and the harsh realities of his home life. Eventually, he would have to leave his childhood home behind to seek work in distant cities. At school, he discovers the power of poetry, which helps him vividly express his loneliness. His words reflect the vast, indifferent beauty of nature around him, and the social and economic pressures rooted in East Asia’s competitive culture. Filmed over the course of four years, Always becomes an intimate portrait of a boy wrapped in quiet solitude – a boy writing heavy, melancholic, precociously mature verses like: “The wind blows away the sea / creates the world’s abundance / yet all that remains is emptiness” (Silent Wind, Gong Youbin). The allegorical coming-of-age story of the formative journey of a poet in the making unfolds through striking black-and-white tableaux, which frame Gong’s poems and evoke their calligraphic delicacy. With sparse dialogue, the film embraces contemplative silence and wide natural vistas where even human faces seem like part of the landscape. Chen’s camera captures the tension between poetry and reality, crafting a visual language from this rupture – inviting us to reconnect with our own lost emotions and memories, and to find in Gong’s journey an echo of the world we once imagined, and which slowly faded under the weight of growing up. (Dina Pokrajac)

*Producer Hansen Lin will join us for a Q&A after the screening, moderated by film critic Sara Simić.

Awards and Festivals:
CPH:DOX (2025) – World Premiere, DOX:AWARD for Best Film; Hot Docs (2025); Jeonju International Film Festival (2025) – Best Film