Feet Don't Fail Me Now, 7min., USA
Directed by Fuzhi Zhao
The sun will erase your memory. If you don't want to become nobody, you have to keep running.

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?
Part of this idea stemmed from the fear of the unknown, which is deeply embedded in human nature. We are scared of what we don't know. The universe is so vast that it might not have a limit, and the ocean is so expansive that we only know a tiny portion of it, and nobody can tell you what death is like. There are countless things in the world that work this way.
Just like us, my protagonist Noe can't stop running away from "the Sun," something that everybody on the planet fears because it will erase your memory quicker than death. Noe embraces the experience at the end, because she is small and the universe has more power over her. She can never outrun her fate. With acceptance comes peace and new experiences; she has never seen anything quite as strange and beautiful as "the Sun."
Noe believes "the Sun" will be the end of everything for her. Is it actually true? The other half of the story is also my feelings about these "learned truths," the things we are told to do or not to do, and if these "truths" serve a function. Noe's stopping to look at "the Sun" is also her act of defiance.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
I've had this idea for a few years. After revisiting this concept, it took me about three months, from the first draft to the edits, to make this film.

3. How would you describe your film in two words!?
Dystopian haiku?

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
Everything felt kinda stressful at the time, but now I think about it, it's really not that bad. I guess one thing is communication. Coming from an animation background, I didn't have much experience collaborating with a bunch of people. Talking to people about what's in my head is still something I am practicing.

5. There are 5 stages of the filmmaking process: Development. Pre-Production. Production. Post-Production. Distribution.

What is your favorite stage of the filmmaking process?
I love development because that's where I can get crazy with my ideas, I can write stories and see them in my head, and then I wish other people could see it as I do. And then there is production, where I get to see the story slowly coming alive. It's also chaotic in a way that requires you to come up with a solution on the spot when you have a problem, and I find some of the interesting things I've done are like that.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?
I've always been into drawings, and at some point in high school, I thought that it'd be cool if the drawings moved. And then I realized that behind the scenes of movies is not at all what we see as the audience. And that I can construct different realities than the one I know.

7. What film have you seen the most times in your life?
Her by Spike Jonze

8. In a perfect world: Who would you like to work with/collaborate with on a film?
Yuasa Masaaki

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site?
The festival platform site is easy to navigate.

10. What is next for you? A new film?
I'm working on a new project right now. It's a retro-futuristic sci-fi about a scientist named Tommy trying to fix his ill Mother, who despises him.