A demigod must discover the meaning of love in seven days to enter Heaven and recruits the help of his best friend to interview people for answers.
CREDITS:
Writer/Director/Editor: Lim Sidnee
Producers: Aries Fung, Chrystal Yoon Hyung Kim, Grace Lee
Starring: Jenine Florence Jacinto as Leveret, Harin Srimugayogam as June, Magpie Park as himself, Emi Bague as herself, Kimstelle Merisma as herself
DP: Chris Thach
Associate Producers: Jena Seng, Leanne Zhang
Music Composer: Ellie Koo
First AD: Sarina Lopresti
Second AD: Jenna Johal
Accessibility Coordinator: Tris Arthur
Script Supervisor: Karenna Umscheid
Art Director: Grace Yewon Lee
Props Master: Hengyu Hu
Art Team: James Pennington, Noelle Doyle
Title Design: Vanessa Shimon
First AC: Tana Hok
Second AC: Mora Walker
Gaffer: Dion Kim
Key Grip: Leanne Zhang
Additional Grips: Kai Etringer
Sound Recordists: Shiyi Shen, Nick Stapp
Wardrobe: Meera Singh
HMU: Kevelle Branch
Intimacy Coordinator: Kenny Wood
PAs: Philippe Kato, Braden Page
Sound Designer: Kenny Wood
Assistant Editors: Carys Hirawady, Mora Walker
Colorist: Chris Thach
Transcribers: Siân Kimsey, Claudia Ly
DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT:
In Spring 2023, I directed and edited my thesis film “Heaven and Back”, a short film/documentary following the son of the Chinese deity of homosexual love, Leveret, who has seven days to discover the meaning of love through his documentary project in order to ascend to Heaven. When no one volunteers to be interviewed and the deadline quickly approaches, his best friend, June, who works at a bakery offers to bake pastries as an incentive.
The character arcs and narrative conflict is a dramatic and fantastical reflection of the abstractness of love, especially for queer people of colour under the pressure of a religious upbringing and immigrant experience. Nothing comes easy, and it often feels like we must do it all by ourselves--as a queer person, as an immigrant, as a child. But through the effort of navigating these challenging experiences and learning what works for us, there is so much love and catharsis to happen.
I have always loved listening about love from my community since it is so rarely afforded to us, and I wanted to archive the thoughts and perspectives of my community. The film then became an experiment with how I could show my admiration for the strength and love of the people around me, and build onto what I have learned from them so far. In the end, this led to the decision to weave fiction and documentary.
Similar to how the characters are challenged with a non-concrete definition of love and relationships, the romance/drama film blurs the lines between narrative fiction and interviews with real-world subjects by framing the interviews as part of the character’s documentary project.