Director Pengfei ‘s “ Take Off ,” which world premiered in competition at the Tokyo International Film Festival , represents both a continuation and evolution of the filmmaker’s artistic preoccupations.

Adapted from Shuang Xuetao’s novella “The Aeronaut,” the film follows Li Mingqi (Jiang Qiming), an ordinary worker in Northeast China who inherits his late father’s obsession with flight – a dream that will span decades and test the limits of his persistence.

The story unfolds against the backdrop of China’s dramatic economic transformation from the 1970s to the present. After a homemade flying machine crashes and leaves his brother-in-law disabled, Li Mingqi and his wife (Li Xueqin) attempt to rebuild their lives by opening a dance hall in an abandoned factory museum, using a hot a

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