It is summer in the mountainous Liangshan region. Fang, 15, who just graduated from middle school, talks about her dreams. But life never stops, it moves too fast – like a game of basketball. Or a swaying skirt. Her phone fell into water and now she tries to find a way to dry it. The clouds pass by above her and there are too many stairs to climb. Meanwhile, the adults seem to decide her future. And the rocket keeps being launched every month.

Born in Sichuan in 1992, Bohao Liu studied filmmaking and screenwriting at New York University and the London Film School. His graduation film, the short documentary Eagles Rest in Liangshan, won a Student Academy Award in 2021 and was nominated for an IDA Documentary Award in 2022. His hybrid documentary, When a Rocket Sits on the Launch Pad, was selected by Berlinale Generation 2023. He is an alum of Locarno Spring Academy and Oscars Academy Gold. He is now working and studying at Le Fresnoy – Studio national des arts contemporains.

lightson@lightsonfilm.org