Chinese director Juno Hong has brought her debut feature “Only the Moon Knows” to the Shanghai International Film Festival‘s SIFF Project, where it was selected as one of three international co-production projects presented at the market.

The film centers on Cheng Jun, a Chinese international student working the night shift at a 24-hour convenience store who forms an unlikely bond with a homeless elderly woman who shelters there each night. Their friendship reaches a breaking point when Cheng Jun prepares to return home after her studies, just as the old woman’s situation takes an unexpected turn.

The project draws directly from Hong’s own time studying and working abroad. The script is complete, the budget is set at RMB2 million ($296,000), and 10% of financing has been secured. Hong is now seeking international co-producers and financing partners, with a particular focus on post-production collaborators and an international distributor.

“‘Only the Moon Knows’ feels entirely different because it is deeply personal,” says Hong. “In my past projects, my role was primarily to help execute someone else’s vision. This debut feature, however, is a story born directly from my own life and personal experiences.”

Though “Only the Moon Knows” marks her first time in the director’s chair, Hong brings substantial set experience as a script supervisor and coordinator on several Chinese independent productions, among them “The Last Summer,” “Fish,” and Zhao Hao’s forthcoming debut “If I See A Rainbow.” She is currently based in Beijing and holds a graduate degree from Dongguk University’s Graduate School of Digital Image & Contents in Korea.

“I believe the most effective way to forge a unique directorial voice is through absolute honesty regarding one’s own vulnerability,” says Hong. “Loneliness is a universal human condition, but it manifests differently across cultures. By setting the story in an intercultural context, we highlight the initial isolation that comes with language and cultural barriers. I am not trying to replicate the stylistic tropes. Instead, I am focusing on the realistic, microscopic details of daily life that I witnessed firsthand.”

Hong described her financing approach as centered on partners who value independent cross-cultural cinema over purely commercial considerations. “Our financing strategy focuses heavily on international co-productions and cultural film funds,” she says. “We are looking for partners who don’t just see this as a commercial venture, but who deeply understand and value the artistic merit of independent, cross-cultural cinema.”