In her first feature film, writer-director Shan Jiang knew the story of the “romance of walking and talking for one night” was over, but she also saw in it a “daring.”
“It was a conscious choice to set the story in Shanghai from the beginning. It was always the most ‘open’ city in China when I was growing up — and the most penetrating to the outside world,” Chan says in a statement. “But by early 2024, when we were in development, Shanghai was also a city living in the long shadow of the 2022 lockdown. I wasn’t interested in making a film about that. I was interested in making a film that could only exist in the Shanghai that passed through it — where transience was not only what lovers had in romance, but it was also in the air.”
movie, Ephemeral thingswhich premieres at the 2026 Tribeca Film Festival, follows two women, 23-year-old Asher (Yvonne Shuyou Chang) and hip-hop dance teacher Tori (Shu Yi), as they wander the streets of Shanghai on one of Asher’s last nights before returning to Los Angeles. A casual outing turns into something more as they share stories and laughs in their queer love story.
In the exclusive clip below, Usher and Tori walk and talk about their hopes and ideas before the moment ends in an affectionate embrace.
As for what audiences should take away from the film, Chan says: “Some parts of the film will have faded by the time the audience goes home. Some may linger – perhaps in ways they can’t explain, perhaps years later, or perhaps just one afternoon. I’d rather not dictate which parts they are.”
Ephemeral things It will have its world premiere, as part of Tribeca’s American Narrative Competition section, on Sunday, June 7. Additional screenings are scheduled for next week.
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