Chinese filmmaker Guan Tian and producer Vivian Bao are presenting Guan’s debut feature “The Daughter,” a thriller co-produced by Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, and France, at Busan’s Asian Project Market.
This original project was inspired during the production process of Guan’s Venice-selected short film “The Poison Cat,” a mythical thriller about female revenge. The spine of the story – the bond between two generations – is inspired by Guan’s mother and grandmother. Through the film, Guan wants to explore the intergenerational bond that contains struggles and pain.
“The Daughter” tells the story of Gui, a sixteen-year-old who is forced into pregnancy as her mother Yishui is infertile, struggles to battle the evil spirit she conceives. As more and more eerie changes take place, all pregnant women in the village are forced to abort. Yet, Gui uncovers an intimate connection with the evil spirit, which embodies Yishui’s deepest pain about childbearing.
“The evil spirit embodies the intergenerational reproductive trauma. I believe these struggles are not unique to China – they resonate across other Asian countries and even beyond,” said Guan. “Through this story, I want to confront the inherited burdens of guilt, love, and resentment passed down through generations, and explore how politics and tradition invade our bodies and loves, creating confusion and despair.”
Guan’s longtime collaborator, producer Vivian Bao, said: “Both ‘The Daughter’ and his earlier short films share a fusion of myth and supernatural. Although the setting was otherworldly, the characters and environment felt vividly grounded,” she said.
Bao added that the major subject of the film is women’s reproductive struggle as well as the pressure they experience for childbearing. “The common thread is the erosion of women’s autonomy over their own bodies, ” she said. “With that in mind, when we seek financing and partnerships, our priority is not only whether they understand that historical context, but whether they have a deep sensitivity to women’s struggles for bodily autonomy”
The film’s budget is set at $1 million and is at the financing stage. A principal goal at the APM is to find the perfect shooting location that has a mysterious and lush rainforest with a magical realism vibe, as the team aims to film in June 2026. “We are actively seeking local co-producers in Southeast Asia who can help us ground the film in a distinctive landscape,” said Bao.