I Want To Go Back To Yingcheng

Synopsis

I Want to Go Back to Yingcheng is an intimate narrative short that centres on an elderly man living with Alzheimer’s, unaware of the condition that is quietly reshaping his world. Though cared for by his family, he feels increasingly disconnected from his surroundings, drawn instead towards a powerful and unresolved longing to return to his hometown of Yingcheng. Acting on this belief, he slips away, setting out on a fragile journey guided by memory rather than reality. As he moves through unfamiliar spaces, moments of confusion are interwoven with fleeting clarity, revealing the emotional weight of a life shaped by memory and loss. Encounters along the way begin to challenge his understanding of where he is and who he is becoming, placing him on the edge of a truth he cannot fully grasp. Balancing tenderness with restraint, the film explores identity, displacement, and the quiet tension between holding on and letting go, asking what it means to remain present when the past feels more real than the world in front of you.