Back to the ’90s to Make Movies

Chi Ying, a top-ranking directing student at the Beijing Film Academy, wakes up in her college dormitory in 1998 after slipping and hitting her head. She realizes she has been reborn, returning to the pivotal moment when she previously gave up her coveted job assignment in Beijing to follow her boyfriend, Zhang Yang, to a provincial television station. That decision led to a life of regret, professional stagnation, and heartbreak. Determined to change her fate, Chi Ying rejects her past self’s arrogance and impulsively reclaims her assignment to the China Film Script Planning and Production Center, a prestigious government institution with high administrative status and Beijing household registration benefits.

Professor Liu, her homeroom teacher, is initially furious at Chi Ying’s previous refusal but is stunned by her sudden change of attitude. Chi Ying secures her position, moves into the center’s staff dormitory, and begins her career. Her path crosses again with Tan Yi, an acting department classmate who, despite his talent, faces unemployment after a faculty position is given to a connected outsider. Tan Yi helps Chi Ying move and they reconnect, with Chi Ying promising to cast him in her future films. She also reconciles with her roommate Song Lin, who is struggling to find work in Beijing.

Chi Ying’s professional life begins at the Planning Center, where she navigates office dynamics with Director Han and other senior staff. She is sent to a seminar on film commercialization hosted by the Film Bureau. The meeting turns into a heated debate between conservative veteran filmmakers, who disdain commercial cinema, and industry leaders like Lei Dongming, chairman of Huaying Group, who advocate for market-oriented productions. Chi Ying, initially trying to remain inconspicuous, is called upon to speak. She delivers a compelling argument that film is both an art and an industry, emphasizing the need to survive in the face of impending WTO entry and Hollywood competition. She frames commercial success as a way to serve the people and preserve Chinese cinema, silencing her critics and impressing Lei Dongming.

Her speech catches Lei Dongming’s attention, and he invites her and Director Han to Huaying Group the next day to discuss a potential New Year’s film project. Chi Ying, prepared with a fully developed screenplay and storyboards from her previous life’s knowledge of successful films, sees this as her opportunity to enter the industry properly. Meanwhile, she confronts Zhang Yang, who had been cheating on her with a classmate, Zhao Xuemei, and attempted to use Chi Ying’s talent for his own career advancement. Chi Ying exposes his schemes, ending their relationship definitively and freeing herself from the toxic attachment that had derailed her past life.

As she settles into her new life, Chi Ying faces the challenges of the late 1990s film industry, where funding is scarce and artistic prestige often conflicts with commercial viability. She befriends Song Lin, who moves in with her after a traumatic encounter with her landlord. Chi Ying’s goal is clear: to produce successful commercial films, establish herself as a leading director, and avoid the mistakes of her previous life. Her alliance with Lei Dongming and Huaying Group provides a crucial foothold, setting the stage for her rise in the Chinese film industry as the market begins its explosive growth.