Tender Madness Pictures

In the Shandong province, an old farmer woman falls. That is enough for her children to sign her up in a nursing home. Nevertheless, places are rare and the poor ill woman is forced to live at her unwelcoming children’s, waiting for a bed to be freed.

Lili, a young mother, lives with her gambler husband in a remote part of Sichuan. Lonely and poor, she heads for the city in a bid to earn enough money to save her dying father.

Weaving together footage filmed and broadcast by little-known Chinese live-streaming anchors, who struggle with real-life face-to-face social interaction because of their identity, disability and social-economic status, this cinematic collage explores how individuals satisfy their cravings for human connection through virtual togetherness, and how these virtual relationships challenge standard definitions of companionship.