Turn Around
Director：Jiamin Hu
Screenwriter：Jiamin Hu
Cast： Kane Liao, Zhao Yede, Xintong
Producer： Kane Liao, Jiamin Hu
Cinematographer：Jiamin Hu, Xintong, Zhao Yede
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Language：Mandarin Chinese, English
Production Company：MIN WHO? Filmmaking Collective
SYNOPSIS
Turn Around follows Kane’s gender-affirming surgery at Shanghai’s 411 Hospital, tracing every subtle change in Kane’s body, from the operating room to the recovery ward. Within the interstices of institution and lived reality, Kane’s body is transformed, and so too is their relation to the world. With quiet and attentive observation, the film bears witness to experiences and choices that often resist easy articulation.
Director Biography
Jiamin Hu is a moving image artist and curator whose research centers on queer cinema. Based between Shanghai, Dubai, and San Francisco, her practice explores the codification and deconstruction of boundaries and spaces. Using metaphorically charged imagery, she aims to uncover the secret operation of identity politics and gender performance within public spheres. Her work spans regions, from collaborations with migrant communities across the MENA region, to documentary projects in East and Southeast Asia that trace indigenous narratives and hidden histories.
Director's Statement
The making of Turn Around was an ongoing exercise about looking and being looked at. Kane’s surgery took place within a highly regulated medical system, where many processes were at once deeply intimate and profoundly institutionalized, often eluding articulation. I kept asking myself throughout the shooting: What can be seen? Who can be seen? How to film without defining or reducing such complex experiences? Turn Around is an attempt to adjust the balance between documenting and maintaining distance, asking me to keep questioning and remain responsible.
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