“The Decisive Moment,” a sci-fi feature directed by Zhang Disha and produced by Huang Jianxin, will world premiere as the closing film of the 28th Shanghai International Film Festival on June 21, screening at Shanghai Film Art Center following the Golden Goblet Awards Ceremony on the evening of June 20.
The film, scripted by Hu Xiaoxi and Zhang Disha, unfolds across two interwoven timelines. In the future strand, set in 2035, three Chinese astronauts – played by Huang Bo, Gao Ye, and Sun Yang – face a life-or-death emergency on their return journey to Earth, losing contact with ground control and intercepting a mysterious encrypted signal that stands to alter their fates. In the past strand, Wu Lei plays an aerospace researcher born in 1970 whose earlier work emerges as the crew’s only lifeline. The two timelines are connected through the signal, enabling a cross-era effort to avert the crisis.
Following its SIFF premiere, “The Decisive Moment” is set for a nationwide theatrical release in China in the summer.
The festival, which runs June 12-21, opens with the world premiere of “Afterpiece,” a Hong Kong drama directed by debut filmmaker Keane T.K. Wong and produced by Derek Yee. Starring Stephen Fung, Chrissie Chau, Myolie Wu, and Angela Yuen, the film follows a celebrated stage director whose grip on the boundary between theater and reality begins to dissolve during the casting of a new production. “Afterpiece” was developed through the Hong Kong SAR Government’s Directors’ Succession Scheme, which pairs veteran filmmakers with emerging talent.