The rising Chinese filmmaker Gu Xiaogang (aka Gu You) will direct the "First Scent of Loneliness" which will star in Chinese cinema idol Zhou Xun ("Suzhou River", "Balzac and "Balzac and "Little Chinese Tailor")).

"The First Taste of Loneliness" marks the conclusion of GU's "Shan-Shui" ("Landscape") trilogy, the chapter was shot in four seasons and became the first history of the 2019 Cannes Cannes Teek Close Cross Crialics Teek. With "West Lake" and won three nominations at the 17th Asian Film Awards, host Jiang Qinqin won Best Actress. The film received 121 million yuan in domestic box office before it was released in Japan in 2024.

Shan Zuolong made a "sense of loneliness" this year at Cannes and Bi Gan's "Resurrection" and Du Kexin ("West Lake Residence"). "The First Taste of Loneliness" will mark the concluding chapter of his "shan-shui" ("landscape") film trilogy.

Zhou plays a woman who feels sad about her father's death. As she deals with her own losses, she observes that her mother begins a new romance and discovers her father’s last wish list. The narrative spanning three generations (middle-aged and youthful) is a profound meditation on the life cycle. Through the lens of loneliness, this film explores love, death and healing.

Paris-based Les Films Du Losange will handle international sales, excluding France, Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan; while the tandem film, led by French producer Mathieu Robinet, is being produced with Hangzhou Enlightenment Films.

“We were impressed by the young director Gu Xiaogang’s first film, and his mastery of storytelling, composition and rhythm were impressed by us,” said Alice Lesort, head of international sales at Les Films Du Losange, adding: “This new project promises to establish him as a major contemporary filmmaker.”

"The power of the 'first taste of loneliness' is not only its shocking visual ambition, but also the emotional depth and moral complexity of its narrative," said Tandem's Robinet.

"This is a story that resonates at the philosophical and profound human levels," Robinet continued.

Xun Stars is opposite to famous Chinese actors, including XI Meijuan (Champion of Golden Rooster, "Left-handed Lady"), Wang Shengdi ("Bad Boy"), Zhou Yiwei ("Diet in Survival"), Mu Zhicheng and Xu Chaoying ("Green Wave").

Acclaimed Japanese photographer Takimoto Mikiya ("Like a father, like a son","Our sister”), a man known for his long-term collaboration with Hirokazu Kore-Eda, will serve as a photographer for "Loneliness". The remaining main staff include production designer Zhou Xingyu ("residence in Fuchun Mountains", "West Lake's residence"), fashion designer Su Chao ("Wirs On Wire"), sound director Li Danfeng ("Resurrection"), and editor Matthieu Laclau (Matthieu laclau) ("sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Sin of Wild Goose Lake").