I want to tell stories about young Kazakhs—people who, like everyone else, experience joy, confusion, and pain. Most Kazakh films I’ve seen are set on the steppe, but I believe that wherever Kazakh people live, that place can become the setting for our stories. This film, for instance, takes place in a village on the outskirts of Beijing.

In life, the fading of love often feels like the loss of language—something we once acquired, now abandoned, knowingly or not. This film unfolds around that idea. Language—communication—is something every character in the film struggles with. Oftentimes, we’re not trapped inside our own walls because the gate is locked, but because even when it’s wide open, the person we’re waiting for never comes in.