The film "The Girl Who Wants to Fly", directed by Wen Yan and starring Wen Qi and Liu Haocun, premiered at the Berlin Film Festival on the evening of February 17, local time. The film tells the story of a pair of cousins who go from strangers to familiarity and fight against fate together in the big world.

February 17, 2025, local time, Berlin, Germany, the 75th Berlin International Film Festival, "The Girl Who Wants to Fly" promotion. Visual China Photo

As a director who was shortlisted for the main competition in Venice with "Carnival", Wen Yan's return to the main competition unit of the three major film festivals has attracted much attention, and "The Girl Who Wants to Fly" obviously has greater ambitions in the commercial genre. In the story, Tian Tian (played by Liu Haocun), who desperately escaped from the drug den, was desperate and went to find her cousin Fang Di (played by Wen Qi), who had been separated for five years. But at this time, Fang Di, who was already scarred for survival and dreams, was not ready to accept her cousin. As the criminals pressed on step by step, the gears of the sisters' fate had to bite together again... Continuing the director's iconic social observation perspective, real-life issues such as industry unspoken rules and online loan chaos are woven into the narrative context.

Poster of "The Girl Who Wants to Fly"

Wen Qi, who made her debut in the 12-year-old film Carnival, is now working with the 27-year-old actress Fang Di to complete her impressive resume of being shortlisted for the main competition at three major film festivals at the age of 21. Liu Haocun, who starred in One Second but unfortunately missed the Berlin Film Festival, also received a lot of attention at the film festival this year.

At the press conference held on the day of the premiere, the main creators shared their experience and feelings about the film's creation. Director Wen Yan revealed that the casting process was tortuous. At first, Wen Qi was not considered to play Fang Di because of the age difference. After a long search for a suitable actress without success, he thought of the time when he collaborated with Wen Qi on "Carnival". At that time, she "was able to play a 16-year-old role at the age of 12, and maybe she can also play the 27-year-old Fang Di now." After sending the script to Wen Qi, Wen Qi said that she had a strong resonance with the role of Fang Di, and the two hit it off.

Director Wen Yan. Image courtesy of Visual China

Wen Qi also thanked the director for his trust, "I have never played a role that is much older than myself in other films. This is a challenge for me." She talked about the mutual trust between her and the director, which gave her the security to do such a challenging thing. "The difficult part for me is how to find the sad essence hidden under this character, how she uses a numb appearance to hide her desires and pursuit of love, family, and affection."

The role of Tian Tian played by Liu Haocun is also very challenging, including teenage pregnancy, single mother, drug rehabilitation and other elements, which is a huge test for young actors. She noticed Liu Haocun from "One Second" which premiered at the 2019 Berlin Film Festival, and thought that Liu Haocun "is naturally fragile and strong, and a little rebellious, and these qualities fit the role". She invited Liu Haocun to the studio to read the script, and she was immersed in it. After reading it, she firmly said "This is me, I want to play her", thus starting the cooperation.

Liu Haocun shared her experience of learning Chongqing dialect at the press conference. As a native of Tonghua, Jilin, learning Chongqing dialect was challenging. The crew arranged Chongqing dialect teaching, and sister Peng Jing made a detailed learning list. She listened to the teaching audio and slept every day, repeating the lines more than 200 times. During the live shooting, many improvisations were also learned on the spot.

It is reported that "The Girl Who Wants to Fly" will be released in the country on March 8.