Filmmaker Statement

BALL began with a simple image that stayed with me: a father handing his son a football every year, without explanation. In Xinjiang, where vast landscapes often mirror the distances within families, this small ritual carries a quiet emotional weight. I wanted to make a film where meaning is not spoken, but discovered—where a child learns to read love through time, absence, and memory. The film embraces minimal dialogue, non-professional actors, and a patient visual rhythm to honor the authenticity of the region. What interested me was not the event itself, but the space around it—the silence between generations, the things parents cannot say, and the way children eventually understand what was once hidden from them. BALL is my attempt to capture that moment of awakening, when a young boy sees his father not as a figure of authority, but as a human being carrying his own stories and regrets. It is a small story, but to me, small stories often reveal the deepest truths.