After the Snowmelt

After the Snowmelt is a coming-of-age tale that delves into how youth grapple with their first experience of profound loss.

On the threshold of adulthood, Yi-Shan’s (director) best friend in high school, Chun, went trekking in Nepal with his boyfriend, Yueh, and promised to reunite with her there. However, she lost contact with them and didn’t hear from them until two months later: they’d been trapped in a cave for 47 days due to unseasonable snowfall. Chun passed away three days before the rescue, leaving Yueh as the sole survivor.

Yueh returns and reveals a promise made between him and Chun: whoever survived had to share their story. To honor Chun’s last wish, Yi-Shan takes up the camera and accompanies Yueh to the mountains to ask him about what happened in the cave. However, Yueh withdraws into silence, prompting her to retrace the journey she and Chun promised to take together in Nepal.

Along her way, local villagers in Nepal share memories of Chun and Yueh. Gradually, her journey overlaps with theirs, blurring the boundary between past and present, and finally converges at the same destination. In the snowmelt season, some things resurface while others vanish forever. When Yi-Shan reaches the cave, she must confront the future alone.

Director’s statement :

The seed for After the Snowmelt was planted as I came of age, receiving a letter from my high school best friend, Chun. He wrote before he died: “Yi-Shan, the only thing you have to do is to love.”

Chun and I met at a Catholic girl’s high school, where his boyish appearance as a transman drew criticism. He would weep in front of me, while I comforted him and was moved by his resilience. Alongside his beloved Yueh, they inspired me to explore the world beyond the classroom, and we made a promise to travel abroad together someday.

Since the accident, I relived in my dreams the lonely experience of waiting for their return. The overwhelming desire to reunite and fulfill the broken promise drove me to make this film. Chun’s last wishes taught me the essence of love – assuming the role of the survivor and embracing the responsibility of sharing this story.

Through this film, I want to create a journey from trauma to reconciliation. It resonates not only with themes of gender, education, and nature but also serves as a testament to the resilience of life, the potential for growth, and the realization that life is not just about surviving, but about truly living and loving.