Synopsis
On this day, Nurse Cecily’s favorite patient, Ahno, continues to compete in a boxing match after being discharged from the hospital. Cecily follows Ahno’s match on the radio while caring for the hospital’s diverse patients in her own special way. As Ahno’s fight approaches, Cecily’s worries surface — until a Mercury Man appears in her afternoon dream, showing her wounds that grow dandelions.
Zhong Xiaoyi
ZHONG Xiaoyi is a writer-director and visual artist from Guangdong and Chongqing, China. She graduated from Peking University and is currently studying in the Film MFA Program at Columbia University. The climate and culture of subtropical China have deeply influenced her cinematic aesthetics and sensitivity. Xiaoyi is adept at combining multi-layered material with unconventional narrative structures, exploring cinematic experimentation in storytelling, and oscillating between delicate emotions and whimsical humor. Her creations aim to add a touch of poetry and childlike wonder to the world while firmly expressing her belief in love and beauty.
Director's statement
In the hospital created by BOXING DAY, the things I hold dear—innocence, childhood, gentleness, dreams, lovable people—glow amidst the gloom of illness. This is what I want to bring to the world. For me, love and beauty are the most worthwhile values to practice in a world full of misfortunes and dystopias. Yet, we must navigate through life’s sufferings: how to act?
The inspiration for this story came when I wrote, “Every scab comes from a love.” Love brings healing, but it also requires enduring pain. For powerful hearts, don’t stop loving just because we’re afraid of pain.
