Award-winning art house film set for spring release

A poster of The Summer Is Gone. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The Summer Is Gone, the winner of the recently concluded 53rd Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan, will open in Chinese theaters in spring in Beijing, according to an announcement on Dec 4.

The directorial debut of Zhang Dalei, the art-house film took home the best picture and best new performer awards on Nov 26.

The film, set in a remote town in early 1990s, is about a teenager and his father’s changing relationship amid a rapidly transforming China.

Zhang said that winning the awards was a surprise. “The moment I heard the news I almost fell off my chair,” he said at a Beijing event.

Zhang took nearly seven years to pen the story. Revealing where he found inspiration to write the story, he said: “Once when I was visiting my grandmother, I saw my mother use a spoon to feed my granny who had been paralyzed for years. It touched me and gave me ideas for my story.”

Financed by China’s major video-streaming site iQiyi.com, The Summer Is Gone is the internet firm’s first art house project.