6TH EDITION ★ MARCH 2025 ★ GHENT
Shengze Zhu
Documentary
Present.Perfect
2019
Live-streaming has become one of China's most profitable industries over the past several years. While it produces enormous revenues and numerous “Internet celebrities”, it also provides a popular gathering place for masses of Chinese netizens (internet citizens). People that would never cross paths in the real world are now connected in virtual showrooms and interact in real-time, and one could instantaneously experience what others are experiencing. Such digital hangouts become unprecedentedly crucial for those craving for human connection but shunned in real lifebecause of their identity, disability and social-economic status.
124 min
Mandarin, Cantonese
About the Director
Shengze Zhu is a filmmaker and producer from China. She now lives in Chicago. She co-founded a production collective Burn the Film with Zhengfan Yang, which is dedicated to creating, producing, and supporting innovative moving-image work with a singular vision. Her feature debut 'Out of Focus' (2014) premiered at Cinéma du Réel in France; her second documentary film 'Another Year' (2016) received the Best Film Award at Visions du Réel in Switzerland, the Grand Prize at RIDM Montreal Int’l Documentary Festival, and was honored as "Top 10 Films of the Year" in 2016 by 24 Images magazine (Canada). Her third film Present.Perfect. (2019) received the Tiger Award at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in the Netherlands, the Grand Prize at RIDM Montreal Int’l Documentary Festival, the Spotlight Award at the 2020 Cinema Eye Honors (USA). Shengze has also served as producer for Zhengfan's films, including 'Distant' (2013), 'Where Are You Going' (2016) and 'Down There' (2018).