Shorts 2: Artistic Visions – A Summer’s End Poem

Shortly before the end of the summer holidays, a country boy spends his savings on his dream of a city hairstyle – with surprising results. A story about bidding farewell to childhood and the poetic end of a summer.

Director: Lam Can-zhao
Writer: Lam Can-zhao, Yupeng He, Shutong Xu
Producer: Lam Can-zhao, Tammy Tai
Executive Producer: Yana Lekarska, Jeremiah Foo
Cinematographer: Pan Wenhua
Starring: Cai Jingbo
Music: Mu Qingfeng

2024 | 15 mins | China, Malaysia, Switzerland | Chinese (Min Nan) | Color | 🏆 | Drama, Portrait, Art

About the Filmmaker

Lam Can-zhao, a Chinese filmmaker born in 1994, made his directorial debut at the age of 20 with THE DOG, a low-budget feature film that brought him into the spotlight. In 2023, he produced, wrote, and edited the short film A BRIGHT SUNNY DAY, which was selected for LA CINEF at the 76th Cannes Film Festival. In 2024, his short film A SUMMER’S END POEM, for which he served as writer, director, producer, and editor, won Best Short Film at the 74th Berlinale Generation Kplus competition.

Director’s Statement

In a village near the southern Chinese city of Chaozhou, a boy has spent the summer with his grandfather. As the last day of the holidays approaches, he gathers together his hard-earned savings to fulfill a dream: he has long yearned for a city hairstyle. But the gap between expectation and reality is large. This story of a boy who bids farewell to his childhood and embarks on a journey towards self-discovery transcends the boundaries of a small village and resonates with universal themes such as growing up and the unpredictable nature of life.