THE SHADOWLESS TOWER (BAI TA ZHI GUANG), 2023

China | DCP, Color, 144’ |Mandarin, Cantonese
Director: Zhang Lu
Cast: Baiqing Xin, Yao Huang, Zhuangzhuang Tian

Competing for the Golden Bear at the Berlinale, the film follows Gu Wentong, a middle-aged food critic in Beijing, as he confronts the long-absent father who disappeared from his life years ago. Estranged from his daughter after a divorce, Wentong develops a connection with a young photographer, Ouyang, through whom he learns that his father is still alive. The story unfolds around the 13th-century White Pagoda (the historical stupa of the Miaoying Temple in Beijing), transforming the structure into a metaphor for lost time and fractured family ties.