Chinese director Zhong Kaifeng presented his debut feature “Atlantic Rhapsody” at the Shanghai International Film Festival‘s main competition press conference and post-screening Q&A, joined by producers Wang Tianxiao and Zhengjing and cast members Li Xueqin, Wang Yitong, Yin Fang and Huang Miyi.

The film is set in a declining industrial city in Northeast China and traces a young man’s search for his father, a small-time schemer who chased quick riches during the freewheeling capitalist surge of the late 1990s and early 2000s in Southern China. Its loose, time-skipping narrative assembles fragments of memory across different eras.

Zhong drew the title from “Man from Atlantis,” an American TV series that appears in the film. “It carries a romantic imagination of people towards the unknown,” he said. “Naming a northeast Chinese story with the name of an ocean also draws a sense of dislocation that can dramatize the film.”

Sound design is central to how the film constructs its supernatural register. Zhong recalled a news story from the period depicted: “A supermarket had a live shark on display, but in an accident, a worker cooked it alive. The whole city went wild; people rushed to queue and buy bits of this cooked shark. It was a wild, chaotic vibe.” The sounds of ocean creatures, he said, amplified that uncanny quality. “This is a story about memory,” Zhong said. “If you want to involve a supernatural element, you need to find your ground with good sound design.”

Actor Wang Yitong, who plays the son working at a supermarket and is also known as a screenwriter on “Journey to the West,” said the shoot was an unusually low-pressure experience. “This time I joined the project purely as an actor; I only need to be responsible to the director, as he also doesn’t require so much of me, so I feel very happy – although this kind of opportunity is quite difficult to get,” Wang said.

Lead actor Li Xueqin acknowledged the film’s fragmented structure. “I was terrified that when I went up on stage, everyone would ask me how I understood the film. Let me tell you, my understanding is definitely not as good as yours,” Li said. She described her character as someone who “speaks with the heaviest Northeast accent, makes electronic music, and her dream is to go to Berlin. I think she represents a very unique, vibrant vibe in Shenyang.” Li also noted that the role was originally written for a male actor before Zhong rewrote it for her following their first meeting.

Huang Miyi, who plays a Japanese manga artist, said her character also underwent significant changes during development, shifting from North Korean to South Korean before landing on Japanese. “The director told me that I play an artist, but actually she’s a tiger; I got confused because I’ve never played an animal,” Huang said. “I found that very interesting because playing her requires a lot of imagination.”

Yin Fang, who plays the grifting father, described the character’s arc in terms of its historical dimension. “A figure of that era, someone who wanted to make a big splash but ended up being toyed with by the times. [The character] is quite absurd and desolate. I wanted to show the look of people from that era, to show his losses and his regrets,” Yin said.

On the question of a release date, producer Wang Tianxiao said no timeline had been confirmed. “What matters is that the film shall find its audience who would really like it,” Wang said, “because it is impossible that one film will be loved by all. What is needed is an excellent distributor to bridge the film to its audience.” Wang Yitong responded with a joke: “How low are you trying to let down everyone’s expectations? No one is even going to watch pretty soon!” Wang Tianxiao clarified that he was speaking in general terms. “As long as audiences who would love it get to see it, that’s fine,” he said. “Because those who don’t like it may give us bad reviews, so… just don’t watch it.”