Shirley He’s thesis film to premiere at IDFA
Shirley Yumeng He’s (MFA ‘24) Stanford thesis film The Other Side of the Mountain is set to premiere at IDFA as part of the IDFA Competition for Short Documentary:
In the hilly city of Chongqing, a painter searches for the old apartment where he and his parents used to live. He asks local residents for directions, walks through narrow passages between buildings, and calls his 90-year-old mother for confirmation. But the city has changed beyond recognition. Behind the camera, his daughter documents his journey.
As the camera pans across spaces, the images are revealed like a long scroll being unrolled. Past and present co-exist in the same shot, revealing the traces of time: mountains and high-rises, old tea cups and new smartphones, demolished buildings and new construction. Together, the father and daughter muse about history, memories, and what it means to see and make images.
