Befriending the Black Dog of fate

Guan co-wrote the script with screenwriters Ge Rui and Wu Bing, and says that he drew inspiration from moments in his work and life.

During the course of shooting earlier films, Guan visited a number of small towns in Northwest China. He discovered that while these towns were once prosperous, boasting well-developed community facilities, such as hospitals and schools that were a legacy of China's industrial expansion in the 1950s and '60s, they now lay empty or nearly abandoned due to the decline of factory operations, and that many of their former inhabitants had relocated or departed. This contrast between past and present created a sense of desolation, which sparked Guan's creative fire.

Guan also introduces his love for dogs — the director has five — and memories of his father's final years before passing away at the age of 101, to explore themes including the relationship between animals and humans, as well as between fathers and sons.

With a cast and crew that included more than 100 dogs and over 20 professionals recruited to take care of them in a nearly 2,000-square-meter shelter, the film was shot in desert areas in Gansu province between late 2021 and early 2022, according to the movie's executive producer, Liang Jing.

She says that Guan found dog trainers during a visit to the set of Hachiko, a film starring Feng Xiaogang that is based on the real life Japanese story of the devotion of a dog for its owner.

Peng found himself nearly going mad after the famously demanding director required him to reshoot a scene where his character chases a dog more than 50 times.

"At first, I was able to remember how I had envisaged playing the scene. However, after repeating it so many times, I became disoriented and desperately wished to finish. I could feel my scalp burning in the scorching sun," the actor recalls.