As the Water Flows

After the loss of his wife, Shuwen would like to become emotionally involved with someone again, but he meets with his daughters' opposition. This leads him to truly experience the very different lives of his three daughters: one belongs to the elite, another to the middle class and the third to the working class, each of them concealing their own specific wounds. Shuwen goes from each of their families to another, gradually bridging the gap between three generations. Meanwhile, his grandchildren, who are seemingly independent-minded, also have to confront identity issues and the pressures stemming from social stratification. With a storyline that is both understated and profound, the film explores the subtle yet complex emotional currents within a family, while reflecting upon life's universal dilemmas which very often have no easy answers. - 'In 2023, I sifted through my grandfather's diary… I imagined myself as my grandmother, who had passed away even earlier, watching us, my family and me, relive our lives in a parallel universe… This is not only the story of a Chinese family, but the microcosm of a period of time in China.' Bian Zhuo