Hello! I am Alan (Ran) Zheng, an independent filmmaker originally from China and currently based in Minnesota.
In my work, I have been mostly exploring themes relating to generational differences, influence of technologies, and relationship to hometown in the age of Globalization / Anthropocene. Coming from a background of both scientific methods and essayistic filmmaking, I try to have science and poetic approaches intertwine in my work.
I am currently working on a film called 归乡之悼 • Sauntering along Light. The film explores how the rapidly changing society (partly caused by globalization) in the Anthropocene influences people’s perception of home. When the past is buried in the rubbles of trauma or forgotten in the crevices of history, how do resilient people face the absence of memories about home and search for their past, present, and future.