Monkey, a stage designer in Shanghai, has spent three months searching for housing without success. Exhausted by the unreasonable demands of a fickle producer and pretentious director, and struggling with delayed wages, Monkey is also haunted by the painful memory of her boyfriend’s suicide. Following his debut film Love Is a Gun (2023), which won him the Orizzonti Award for Best Director at Venice, Lee Hong-chi presents A Dance in Vain, which will resonate with anyone who has ever heard, “At least you get to make a living doing what you love (so just suck it up),” or, “You’re being too difficult.” The film also speaks to those who understand that art is at its most beautiful when it is ‘useless.’ Ideals soar high and reality remains heavy, but only those who refuse to give up a handful of yellow flowers and yellow candles can keep dancing in vain, swaying freely.
Lee Hong-chi has starred in over ten critically and commercially successful films, including Long Day's Journey Into Night (2018), which was invited to Cannes; Cities of Last Things (2018), winner of the Platform Prize at Toronto; and Thanatos, Drunk (2015), recipient of the Teddy Award at Berlin. With his directorial debut Love is a Gun (2023), he earned international acclaim as a visionary filmmaker with a singular cinematic voice, receiving the Lion of the Future award at the Venice Film Festival 2023. Returning to Venice in 2025, he served on the Venice International Critics' Week jury while premiering his sophomore feature, A Dance in Vain, for which he also worked as cinematographer.
From Busan International Film Festival 2025, No. 30
