Liang Chun-chieh

Her First Joss Stick is a narrative short film that combines action-inflected comedy with an atypical female coming-of-age story rooted in local ritual culture. Set on Lunar New Year’s Eve, the film follows A-Feng, a retired sprinter participating in the fiercely competitive first joss stick ritual at her local temple. Having become a full-time housewife, she channels her long-suppressed desire for speed and competition into the bodily act of sprinting toward the sacred, transforming the ritual into a site of personal assertion.

Miao hadn’t been living with her father; she kept good care of his car. One night with a sudden rain, her father came to visit and had dinner with her. After waking up the next morning, Miao realized it had been only a dream out of her longing for her father.