Show on the road

"If I tell you my dream, you might forget it. If I act on my dream, perhaps you will remember it," the director whispers the proverb, which can be heard as a voice-over line in the movie trailer.

Interestingly, the protagonist trucker wears sunglasses almost all the way through the course of the film, which is reminiscent of Wong's trademark look. The celebrated director is never seen in public without his sunglasses.

"The prop of the sunglasses is an important way to reflect the character's emotions. Although the detail has nothing to do with Wong, you could translate it as a tribute to him," says Tseden.

A combination of color and black-and-white scenes, the 87-minute feature is screened in a 4:3 aspect ratio, similar to the old TV format but squarer than the present-day silver screen.

"The ratio really suits the atmosphere of the story, which we wanted to give an experimental and pioneering quality," explains Tseden.

A native of Hainan Tibetan autonomous prefecture in Qinghai, Tseden established his fame first as a novelist in the early 1990s but switched his focus to cinema following his directorial debut The Silent Holy Stones in 2006. Most of Tseden's films are based on his own novels or have scripts written by him.

With award-winning films including Old Dog (2011) and Tharlo (2015), Tseden is considered as one of the most prominent directors from the "Tibetan new wave", the group of emerging filmmakers over the past decade.

Speaking about his persistence with art house films and their perpetual struggle for market recognition, he says: "At my age, I just want to keep doing what I love to do. The market for art house films is a niche one. But you can see that changes are taking place, as art house films attract more and more moviegoers."

Contact the writer at xufan@chinadaily.com.cn