Like many teenagers, Ren Zimeng has experienced the ups and downs of friendship. Last year, a conflict caused a rift between her and a close friend, and the two stopped speaking for months before finally reconciling through a heartfelt birthday message.
Instead of leaving it behind, the 16-year-old student at The Experimental High School Attached to Beijing Normal University turned the experience into something more: she adapted the story into a script and made it into a short film titled Your Parrot, Too.
The 12-minute piece was shortlisted at the inaugural Ginkgo Youth Film Festival, part of the Beijing International Film Festival, which runs from April 16 to 25.
The Ginkgo Festival will host its award ceremony and sharing sessions on April 25, where Ren's work will be showcased alongside those of young creators aged 6 to 18 from 95 countries and regions.
Reflecting on the four months spent making the film, Ren described the process as both challenging and rewarding.
"Some emotions and thoughts are difficult to express in daily life, but through film, they can be transformed into images, sounds, fleeting glances, and moments of silence," she said.
More importantly, filmmaking has taught her to observe. "My film teacher encouraged me to pay closer attention to the world around me. To capture authenticity, I began noticing details I once overlooked," she said.
For example, she saw how a roadside stall owner leans on his tricycle in a daze when closing his shop and how her friend fidgets with the edge of the table when nervous — a detail she later included in her film.
"Film has made me more sensitive and thoughtful, allowing me to see a richer layer of the world," she said.
The Ginkgo Festival celebrates the sincere and unfiltered expressions of young people. According to Tu Lin, the festival organizer, it features five competition sections: International, Narrative, Documentary, Animation, and AIGC (AI-Generated Content), as well as a specially created "Sprout Section" that best embodies youthful creativity.
"Young creators often have limited resources and may lack access to professional equipment or experienced crews. This section doesn't demand commercial or industry-standard quality but values the unique personal voice of young filmmakers," she said.
