Hairpin Beneath

Hairpin Beneath is a film that draws on the genres of autofiction and docufiction. Wei, a struggling young artist who just moved to Frankfurt, finds solace in the poetic language of a florid love story from an ancient Chinese homoerotical book. Zishi, a young filmmaker who could only be heard behind the camera, tries to document Wei’s process as he conceives a new project based on that story.Wei reimages his hometown Liuzhou on the pages of the forbidden book, as a city of longing and sorrow under the eternal lustful neon lights. As Wei tries to adapt the story into a time-travel drama, he starts to channel the protagonist’s characters and emotions in his own life.In Wei’s journey of self-discovery, sealed memories and hidden desires are slowly revealed, and their intricate entanglements with ambition and power become apparent.