Listen To The Force
Director: Zechen Li
Crew:Writer: Zechen Li. Animation: Zechen Li, Meng Zheng. Music & Sound Design & Mixing: Liuyan Liu
Email:zechenanimation@gmail.com
Synopsis
Listen To The Force follows Ting and Yun, a young couple living together in their urban apartment. Through a series of everyday moments: preparing juice, cleaning dishes, sharing silence, their story gradually unfolds with the Push Hands practice, where each gesture becomes loaded with meaning. As they circle each other in their small, cozy space, the boundaries between martial arts and daily life dissolve. A simple hand push becomes a test of balance. Without dialogue, their bodies tell the story of contemporary intimacy: the constant recalibration between personal space and shared life, the delicate art of being together while remaining individuals.
Trailer
About the director
Zechen Li is an animation filmmaker from Beijing, whose work explores personal memory and interpersonal relationships through a transnational lens. Blending Eastern visual philosophy with Western sensibilities. He seeks to discover the sublime beauty, chaos, and balance inherent in human relationships, developing cohesive aesthetic rules that resonate with the rhythms of real-life experiences.
Zechen's works have been featured at the 27th Brooklyn Film Festival (Official Selection), Chicago Filmmakers, Malt Adult, American Illustration - American Photography (AI-AP), ExFest 2023, and Animation Dingle. Zechen was the animation director of the comedy short, "The Road," produced by Bucktown Pictures. He also contributed as an animator on Chris Sullivan's feature "The Orbit of Minor Satellites" and Patricia Pelletier's animated short "Whyoming." He is currently pursuing an MFA at CalArts. BFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Filmmaker's note
Listen to the Force was sparked by the moment my aunt's palm unexpectedly pressed against my chest during Tai Chi Push Hands practice. This taught me that true strength lies in sensing the other person’s intentions through the slightest shift of weight, the smallest change in pressure. I've observed a similar dynamic in romantic relationships: beneath this rhythmic interaction lies a disorderly balance, reflecting the complexities of love, especially among young couples who oscillate between seeking independence and nurturing intimacy.
Visually, I draw from the spatial philosophy of classical Chinese ink paintings, where emptiness holds as much meaning as form. The animation flows between realistic movement and abstract interpretation, allowing the characters' emotional states to reshape their physical world. The movements consist of two distinct elements: Push Hands practice and everyday activities, with tension remaining steady as the characters seamlessly shift between these modes. My approach seeks not to recreate reality with mechanical precision, but to reveal the intangible architecture of human connection.