Doors 7:30p
Program 8:00p
Tickets $12

UnionDocs
352 Onderdonk Ave
Ridgewood, NY

We are delighted to invite you to a special screening of Faraway My Shadow Wandered, co-directed by Liao Jiekai and Sudhee Liao, presented in collaboration with Cinemovement!

The wintry wind moves through the coastal town of Anamizu, where Junya once promised his grandfather he would inherit the family’s centuries-old Shinto shrine. Years later, that promise remains unfulfilled. In the time between leaving and returning, Junya has drifted far from home.

An unexpected encounter with Sara — a dancer born on the same day as him — gently guides him back toward the place he once left behind. As Junya photographs his hometown with an analogue camera, he observes quietly: swallows always return to their nests.

Blending dance, photography, and cinema, this deeply introspective hybrid documentary gives form to emotions that often remain unspoken. As the film unfolds, language gradually recedes, making space for gestures, movement, and presence. Sara appears almost like an apparition, accompanying Junya through landscapes of memory, longing, and return.

Premiering to international audiences at festivals including Cinéma du Réel 2021 and International Film Festival Rotterdam 2021, the film has been recognized for its delicate merging of choreography and cinema.

Don’t miss this quietly powerful work that asks how the body remembers,  and how images can hold time. Filmmaker Liao Jiekai will be in attendance for a conversation with filmmaker Anocha Suwichakornpong following the program.

Come through!

Program

Faraway My Shadow Wandered by Liao Jiekai and Sudhee Liao

2021/ Singapore & Japan / 70 min

Program Duration: 70 minutes

Bios

Liao Jiekai (Singapore) is a filmmaker, visual artist and educator based in Tokyo. He holds a Master’s degree in Film Directing from Tokyo University. His debut Red Dragonflies (2010) won the Special Jury Prize at Jeonju International Film Festival, and As You Were (2014) competed at film festivals in Tokyo, Torino and Nantes. His work lingers between cinema and the visual arts, often investigating the “hidden history of places” and drawing out “the relationship between people and places”. Faraway My Shadow Wandered (2020), co-directed with choreographer Sudhee Liao, premiered at the Singapore International Film Festival.

Sudhee Liao is a Singapore based interdisciplinary choreographer, movement artist, and educator. She holds a BFA in Contemporary Dance and Choreography from The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Her work intricately weaves movement, identity, and socio-political themes, often integrating materials with movement to create multidimensional performances that reflect on the nuances of existence. Sudhee is an alumna of Cinemovement Lab I and II. Her film Faraway My Shadow Wandered, co-directed with Liao Jiekai, was incubated under the Cinemovement Residency programme in 2020.