FIFTY KILOMETERS FROM THE SHENZHEN-ZHONGSHAN BRIDGE, TWO DRUNKEN PIGEONS ARE DANCING was our Spring 2026 Finishing Funds Winner. The film is written & directed by Adam Zheng Yuan, and produced by Yuxi Zhu.
After twenty years apart, Chuang and his former lover Lizhen reunite in Zhongshan. As they wander through the old town, memory, dream and reality begin to overlap. Blending archival footage from Chuang’s youth with fiction, the film traces a polyphonic journey that mirrors both a life lived and a city in decline.
Learn more about the story and the production of this phenomenal, unique short film that blurs the line between narrative and documentary in this Q&A with Adam and Yuxi.
Tell us about your short. What is it about, and what inspired you to write it?
Adam: Honestly, the story started with my uncle. To me, he’s always been this fascinating character: back in his youth, he was a national ballroom dance champion, very handsome, and always walked with a whirlwind of energy. But time changes things. Today, in his late fifties, he has stepped away from the spotlight, navigating a quieter, solitary life in a small studio.
I realized his life is almost a metaphor for my hometown, Zhongshan. It was this incredibly promising hub back in the ’90s, but gradually quieted down into a third-tier city. Now, with the massive new bridge opening up, there’s suddenly this buzz about a second economic boom. I thought it would be beautiful to put him in this new context: meeting an old flame, wandering through the changing streets, and letting their personal reunion reflect the city’s own bittersweet transformation.
What motivated you to enter the Short Film Fund? How did you feel when you found out that you won?
Adam: We’ve always looked up to the Shore Scripts Short Film Fund as a benchmark for quality storytelling. Securing this fund means the world to us, not only because it gives us the resources to actually finish the film, but because it gives the project an early stamp of approval before we even hit the festival circuit.
Hearing the news was a total surreal moment. Because the grant is so highly competitive, I honestly felt incredibly lucky and honored that the judges resonated with our story amidst a pool of such talented filmmakers.
Yuxi: When I received the award notification email, I immediately called Adam. Even though I managed to sound calm on the phone, internally, I was absolutely thrilled. This was the very first grant our film had received, which made the moment incredibly special. We are incredibly grateful to Shore Scripts for giving this film such a fantastic start. I truly believe this fund will help us go even further.
How did you crew up for your project, what did you shoot on, and where did you shoot?
Adam: My producers, Yuxi Zhu and Jingwen Fang, are my peers from Columbia University. This entire journey truly began with them, and I couldn’t be more grateful for their belief in this project. Creatively and logistically, this film simply wouldn’t exist without their unwavering support. As a director, it’s so easy to lose yourself in the creative maze, and throughout pre-production and post, Yuxi and Jingwen’s sharp insights always kept me grounded and guided me back.
For our key crew, my Director of Photography, Zhihao Zhang, is currently studying at the prestigious Łódź Film School and has shot numerous projects with Columbia students. I had been wanting to collaborate with him after seeing his stunning previous work. We connected online, and we clicked creatively right away. Despite our very limited budget, he came on board and poured his heart into it. In fact, Zhihao was the one who pushed me to shoot the fictionalized segments in black and white, a choice I am so glad we made. The final images look breathtaking; he is incredibly talented.
Our Production Designer, Wanting Sun, previously worked on my last short. When I reached out, she generously agreed to join us again. It was a massive challenge for her because she had already graduated and was working full-time at the time. Yet, she dedicated her precious time and immaculate taste to this film. The bar scene, which she designed completely from scratch, is a testament to her vision. She created something truly unique, a space that feels wonderfully surreal yet remains deeply grounded in reality.
We shot the film on an ARRI Alexa Mini LF in my hometown of Zhongshan. It was an intense, challenging shoot, but above all, it was an incredibly rewarding and fun journey.
Yuxi: As someone stepping into Zhongshan for the very first time, everything felt completely foreign to me. But Adam’s mother was an absolute lifesaver. She helped me immensely with the production, stepping in to solve so many tricky logistical issues. From driving us around and coordinating locations, to finding extra hands and even sorting out my housing, she did it all. Seeing her in her fifties, pulling late nights right alongside our young crew, filled me with a deep sense of gratitude, and honestly, a bit of guilt for making her work so hard. I am profoundly thankful for her. And I have to add: the traditional soup she made for us was absolutely incredible!
What was your casting process? You mentioned that the story is inspired by your uncle, and you cast your uncle (who is not a professional actor) to play this fictionalized version of himself. His performance was fantastic–what was it like working with him? Was it challenging to convince him to come on board?
Adam: Convincing my uncle to come on board wasn’t difficult at all. Deep down, I think a part of him has always yearned to shine on stage. When I pitched the idea, he said yes almost instantly (though after we wrapped, he did confess that filmmaking was far more grueling than he had imagined!). Aside from him, the majority of our cast are also non-professional actors. The female lead, Lizhen, was played by my neighbor, Jane Liu. She had zero acting experience, but her raw talent and instinct were obvious from day one. The moment she read the script, she intuitively understood the character and could pivot her performance quickly.
My uncle, Chuang, is truly one of a kind. His only real hurdle was memorizing dialogue. Fortunately, because our entire cast consisted of locals from my hometown, we had the luxury of rehearsing together for an entire month before principal photography. This intense prep time allowed the actors to get comfortable with the story and my directing style. It also gave me the invaluable opportunity to rewrite and tailor the script to match their natural personalities. By the time we finally rolled cameras, Jane was working with the precision of a trained professional. And my uncle absolutely nailed his lines and instantly became the star of the show.
Yuxi: As a producer, I am naturally a bit apprehensive about working with non-professional actors. It introduces a lot of variables onto the set. However, the director’s passion and absolute confidence in the cast ultimately convinced me to take the leap of faith, and we ended up using non-professional actors for 90% of our entire ensemble. Just as Adam said, Chuang is truly one of a kind. I initially thought the director’s dialogue for him was a bit exaggerated. However, once I finally met Chuang in person, I was amazed to discover that many of his lines in the script were practically verbatim. That’s exactly how he speaks in real life!
How many days did you shoot for? Were you able to stay on schedule? Did you get everything you hoped to capture?
Adam: We shot for four consecutive nights. For the most part, we managed to stay on schedule, with one major exception: our ending. Initially, we planned to shoot the ending on the actual mega-bridge, but logistically, our tight timeline just wouldn’t allow for it. We had to pivot and relocate the scene to an abandoned factory instead. In hindsight, however, I believe this constraint was a blessing in disguise. Moving the ending to the factory added a wonderfully magical realist flavor and a sharper edge of dark humor to the piece that wasn’t there before. It was an incredibly demanding shoot, but looking back, we were extraordinarily fortunate to capture every frame we had hoped for, and even some beautiful surprises we didn’t expect.
Were there any last-minute changes that happened during production? Any changes to the story resulting from practicalities or obstacles that came up during the shoot?
Adam: For me, our single biggest challenge was the weather. Just two days before rolling, the forecast suddenly called for heavy rain. We had to pivot immediately, redesigning the wardrobe to incorporate umbrellas. Shooting mostly outdoors in a sudden rainstorm was logistically brutal, especially for the opening sequence where Lizhen and Chuang reunite on a pedestrian overpass. Yet, looking back, the rain actually elevated the film’s production value. It lent their reunion a poetic sense of romance and isolation, as if they were the only two souls left in the city, waiting out the storm together. Moreover, the umbrellas became brilliant physical props for characterization: Chuang uses his almost like a cane, leaning into his weariness, while Lizhen hangs hers lightly on her arm, moving swiftly and unburdened. Without a single word of dialogue, their umbrellas told the audience exactly who they were.
The other hurdle was the grueling schedule: four consecutive all-night shoots. Flipping your biological clock to sleep by day and shoot by night is a deeply unnatural process, but it was the only way to get this film made. By the fourth night, exhaustion had fully set in for both the cast and me. It was the first time I felt my brain struggling to keep pace with the demands of the set. Fortunately, my crew’s sheer professionalism saved the day. They stepped up with invaluable advice, and we pushed through to get exactly what we needed. Huge shout-out to my incredible cast and crew, thank you for riding this wave with me. It felt like Mission: Impossible, but we pulled it off. And a personal lesson for myself: Work out more. Physical stamina is easily 50% of directing.
Yuxi: Yes, we encountered unexpected hurdles regarding location access for our park and street exterior scenes. Despite having all our permissions and communications sorted out well in advance, the park manager suddenly changed their mind at the last minute, preventing our full crew and equipment from entering the premises. We had to pivot immediately to save the scene: we stripped down to an absolute skeleton crew and shot as quickly as humanly possible before the park’s lights were turned off. Another major obstacle arose with a street location. The area was completely clear during our location scout just a few days prior, but on the night of the shoot, as the rest of the crew was wrapping our previous location, I arrived ahead of time to find the street had suddenly become an active construction site laying down asphalt. Fortunately, after speaking with the site foreman, I learned their shift was ending right at that moment. We were able to perfectly resolve the issue and proceed with the shoot as soon as they cleared out.
The inclusion of home videos is a moving highlight of the film. Where did this idea develop in the process of making the film? How did you discover the home videos?
Adam: The idea of incorporating the home videos into the film was always part of the plan from the very beginning. During my undergraduate years, I had shot a few documentaries focusing on my family, so I knew firsthand that we possessed this beautiful archival footage of Chuang in his youth. I felt it would be incredibly powerful to juxtapose his vibrant, youthful self with the man he is today, thirty years later. By witnessing his physical transformation, the audience doesn’t just observe a character aging, they actively feel the heavy, tangible passage of ‘time’ acting upon both the individual and the City.
However, finding the perfect harmony for this footage was a major post-production puzzle. Because the film is structured as an essay-film, our narrative path was highly fluid, offering infinite ways to weave the 1990s archival tapes of my uncle and the city with our newly shot fictional footage. We spent a long time rewriting the voiceover and went through countless cuts. It was a rigorous process of trial and error to find the exact rhythm and balance that allowed the past and present to speak to one another.
Where are you in post-production? What are your next steps?
Adam: We are incredibly close to the finish line! Right now, we are putting the final touches on the edit and expect to lock the picture very soon. From there, we will transition straight into professional sound design, mixing, and color grading. Once the master is fully complete, our next major step is to launch a strategic and exciting film festival run. We can’t wait to finally share this story with audiences around the world.
What are your aspirations for the short once it’s completed?
Adam: Naturally, our biggest aspiration is to secure a premiere at a major film festival. Getting a short film selected at that level is incredibly competitive nowadays, but receiving this grant from Shore Scripts has given me a tremendous boost of confidence and validation. For that, I am endlessly grateful.
Looking ahead, I am already developing the screenplay for my first feature film. This project will also be set in my hometown of Zhongshan and will once again center around my uncle’s character, expanding on the themes we explored in the short. On the side, I’m also keeping my creative muscles active by writing a few other short scripts. I’m just really excited to keep creating and see where this momentum takes us.
Do you have any advice for filmmakers embarking on their first short film?
Adam: I think we don’t talk enough about how scary filmmaking can be, especially at the start. You’re thrown into a room with dozens of people and actors, many of them strangers, and you have to collaborate under intense pressure. Sometimes, it gets so overwhelming that we forget creating art should actually be fun! My best advice is to focus on finding “your people”—collaborators who share your passion and have your back. Surround yourself with a team you believe in, trust your instincts, and embrace the chaos. Go on and have a great adventure.
Yuxi: As the producer, the one thing I constantly remind my directors is this: safety first, safety first, safety first. No matter how fabulous your story is or how spectacular a shot might look, no film is ever worth risking a life or compromising someone’s well-being. I have seen overzealous filmmakers become so consumed by their vision that they recklessly shoot in dangerous environments, completely ignoring the risks to get the shot. It is a mindset that needs to be actively discouraged. Every single person on your set, from the lead actors to the crew working hard behind the scenes, is absolutely vital to the success of the project. Treat people well, protect them, and respect their boundaries. Making great art is important, but creating a safe, respectful, and caring environment for your team must always be the absolute foundation of any production.
Need funding for your short film? Learn more about our Short Film Fund here.
Adam Zheng Yuan is a New York and Guangdong-based director with an MFA from Columbia University. His work blends fiction with non-fiction to explore locality and the interplay between personal memory and collective history. His short film “Only the Green Stayed” was selected by the Beijing International Short Film Festival in the Nova Competition. His latest project was recently selected for the 2025 Maritime Guangdong Young Director Support Program.
Yuxi Zhu is a New York-based producer and Columbia MFA student dedicated to visual storytelling with a purpose. Her work explores the intersections of Asian identity, female empowerment, and urban narratives. With a foundation in Digital Communication Arts and a ‘Swiss Army Knife’ skill set in production, Yuxi brings an innovative, multi-disciplinary approach to every project, transforming complex social themes into compelling cinematic experiences.
