After the Snowmelt
- Youth
- Personal
- LGBTQ+
- Nature
Synopsis
“After the Snowmelt” is a coming-of-age tale where youth grapple with the first profound loss. Filmmaker Yi-Shan's best friends in high school, Chun and Yueh, were trapped in a Nepal cave for 47 days due to unseasonal snowfall. Chun died three days before Yueh's rescue, leaving behind a last wish: “The survivor must share their story.” To honor this wish, Yi-Shan takes up the camera, accompanies Yueh to the mountains, and retraces Chun’s footsteps in Nepal. Her journey gradually overlaps with Chun’s, blurring the boundary between past and present, and finally converges at the same destination. When she reaches the CAVE, what awaits her there?
Director Statement
The seed of “After the Snowmelt” was born as I came of age, receiving a letter from my high school best friend, Chun. He wrote before he died: “Yi-Shan, the only thing you have to do is to love."
Chun and I met at a Catholic girl's high school, where his boyish appearance as a trans-man drew criticism. He would weep in front of me, while I comforted him and was moved by his resilience. Alongside his beloved Yueh, they inspired me to explore the world beyond the classroom, and we made a promise to travel abroad together someday.
Since the accident, I relived in my dreams the lonely experience of waiting for their return. The overwhelming desire to reunite and fulfill the broken promise drove me to make this film. Chun's last wishes taught me the essence of love - assuming the role of the survivor and embracing the responsibility of sharing this story.
Through this film, I want to create a journey from trauma to reconciliation. It resonates not only with themes of gender, education, and nature but also serves as a testament to the resilience of life, the potential for growth, and the realization that life is not just about surviving, but about truly living and loving.
Festivals & Awards
2024 Visions du Réel - Burning Lights Competition, Switzerland
2024 Trento Film Festival - International Competition, Italy
2024 Jeonju International Film Festival - International Competition, South Korea
2024 Docs Against Gravity Film Festival - First Appearance Competition, Poland
2024 Frameline San Francisco Int. LGBTQ+ Film Festival - Documentary Feature Competition, United States
2024 Taipei Film Awards - Nominated for Best Documentary, Taiwan - Won: Press Award
2024 Frame[o]ut - Open Air Cinema - Official Selection, Austria
2024 DokuFest, International Documentary and Short Film Festival - International Documentary Competition, Kosovo
2024 HKIFF - Summer International Film Festival - FESTIVAL Spotlight, Hong Kong
2024 Taoyuan Film Awards - Nominated, Taiwan - Won: Special Jury Award
2024 EDOC - International Documentary Film Festival - Official Selection, Ecuador
2024 Ulsan Ulju Mountain Film Festival - Asian Competition NETPAC, Mountain section, South Korea - Won: NETPAC Award, Youth Jury Award
2024 Festival Film Dokumenter - International Feature-Length Competition, Indonesia - Won: Best International Feature-Length Award
2024 Field Recordings - Official Selection, the Netherlands
2024 ZINEBI - Int. Festival of Documentary and Short Films of Bilbao - First Feature Film International Competition ZIFF, Spain
2024 Golden Horse Awards - Nominated for Best Documentary, Taiwan
2024 Feast Festival - Official Selection, Australia
2024 Tokyo Filmex - Made in Japan, Japan
2024 Singapore International Film Festival - Standpoint, Singapore
2024 Alternativa Film Awards - Nominated, Indonesia
Team
- Director
- Producer
- Producer
- Producer
- Co-producer
- Co-producer
- Editor
- Production
- Production
Gallery
