Selection

Screening: Professional Competition 8
United States 2025
Duration: 12:31
Directed: Bo Qing Tang, Lan Zeng
Screenplay: Bo Qing Tang
Production: Bo Qing Tang
Dialogue Language: English

A team of workers, including Soo, is sent to planet Gliese 12b to build a gravitational portal. To conserve energy for survival on the frozen planet, each worker is allowed to speak only 138 words per day. Soo chooses his words carefully. When he picks up the phone, he listens but rarely speaks. When a lever bar falls on his foot, a reflexive groan makes him feel regret. When a powerful blizzard hit, he chooses to return alone to retrieve a fallen crystal, not wanting to use words asking for help. This leads him deep into the storm, where he barely survives by taking shelter in a crashed cable car. That night, back in his sleeping pod, he calls his wife back on Earth. When the call connects, the exhaustion on his face fades. He smiles and proudly says, “Hi sweetie, I saved 113 words for you today.”