Zhang Aixin is a scholar, writer, and cross-disciplinary filmmaker who holds a doctoral degree from Shanghai Theatre Academy. Her work unites fine arts, philosophy of art, and religious studies — and her unique way of seeing the world invites us to look differently at the ordinary things we pass by every day.
Her path to filmmaking grew out of a deeply sensitive and distinctive way of perceiving life. Zhang Aixin is a creator with hearing impairment, and this has profoundly shaped her artistic voice. As she explains: "I tend to observe life through sensitivity, silence, images, and emotion. My filmmaking grows out of this very special perspective." The themes she explores — people, beauty, suffering, and faith — became, in her words, "the emotional core from which everything else grew."
"Film is not only an art form — it is also a way of witnessing what is real, what is kind, and what is the light inside us."
Zhang Aixin believes that conviction and faith are among the most precious, yet also the most fragile, things in the world. Her deep spiritual sensibility became the impulse behind the film. At the same time, religion in her work appears not only as a personal experience, but also through images — symbolic, layered, and emotionally rich. Through cinema, she hopes to explore goodness in human nature, the beauty of the world, and spiritual hope.
The director found her central character in religious texts and academic writings. As Zhang Aixin notes: "I often carry multiple roles at the same time — researcher, director, screenwriter, and visual designer." This film clearly reflects a union of knowledge, research, and personal vision. Her academic supervisor played an important role in developing and refining the screenplay. As she recalls: "I felt that even though neither of us is a film professional, that does not stop us from making a cross-disciplinary attempt. We might face failure. But love and passion will overcome everything."
Zhang Aixin sees AI not as a replacement for human thought, but as a tool that expands creative possibilities: "I do not use AI to replace thinking. I use it to expand the possibilities of expression and to bring my ideas closer to the screen." Many ideas born from this creative dialogue found their way into the final version of the film.
In three words, she describes her film as: Mystery. The spirit world. Love. It is a formula where search, the unseen, and human feeling meet. As she says: "Film is not only an art form — it is also a way of witnessing what is real, what is kind, and what is the light inside us."