The Golden Globe-nominated director shot the entire short on the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max
Celebrated director of the Golden Globe-nominated 2019 film The Farewell Lulu Wang has teamed up with Apple to create a Chinese New Year short film inspired by a traditional new year legend, and "reimagined as a contemporary coming-of-age story." The film, available now to watch on YouTube (see below), was shot entire on an iPhone 12 Pro Max. Its release is accompanied with a behind-the-scenes look at the movie-making process.
"It's really exciting that we had this opportunity to retell this ancient story to capture these incredibly cinematic images with the iPhone, this very versatile device," Wang said in the behind-the-scenes video. "Nian is a heartwarming coming-of-age tale about a young girl who's caught between a fantasy world of her childhood and growing up into the real world."
Even though the story revolves around a child, the story will resonate with audiences of all ages.
"As a child, my parents wanted me to go further than they've ever gone," Wang said. "And yet there's also this fear that I was going into the unknown. So I wanted to bring that theme into this film."
Related: Chinese New Year traditions from our Tatler community
Nian is the story of a child in rural China who grows up hearing about a scary monster who lives in the forest near her home. Unperturbed and unafraid, she wanders off to find the beast, befriending it by feeding it rice cakes. One Chinese New Year, she convinces the beast to join her in the village for the celebration and fireworks display.
Check out this super-cool behind-the-scenes look at how the film was made: