As the Water Flows, directed by Bian Zhuo, is award with this year's HKAFF New Talent Award. Centering around the life of an old man who has lost his partner, the story, set in Kunming, depict the tension and barriers among the three generations of a Chinese family. Dircot Bian Zhuo also attended HKAFF and shared his creative experiences with the audience.

Bian shared that the inspiration stems from a hastily written diary left by his grandfather, in which he wished to digitalise it. When he was translating and the verifying the content, he realised that none of his family members except his grandfather could recall the details written in the diary, creating a vast contrast, prompting him to adapt the diary into a film.

When he was working on the film, his family members were afraid of being negatively portrayed or having their secrets exposed, therefore he refused to let anyone read his script in advance so as to focus on completing the work. It was until the film's premiere that the family got the chance to watch the whole story. As they were watching, they laughed and cried, and were deeply moved.

The film is centred on Green Lake. Bian noted that Green Lake is the landmark of Kunming, embodying the growth of local residents, like a home to him. When asked about the interplay of Kunming dialect and Putonghua, he explained that Kunming, to a certain extent, is a city of immigrants. Few families have resided locally for multiple generations. Take the family in the film as an example, the grandfather came from other province, therefore mostly speaking in Putonghua, whereas middle generation grew up in Kunming, therefore are more prone to speak in dialect. As for the younger generation, it is compulsory for them to speak in Putonghua at school. The linguistic distribution reflects the social phenomenon.

There are some comedy moments in the film. The director explained that family related themes are often accompanied with pain and resentment. The first draft addresses pain from the grandfather's perspective, and is rather melancholic. However, as he was working on it, he was drawn into depression. He realised that the diary is not only comprised of sorrow. When people are taking about their pain, the aim is not to dwell upon the suffering itself, but to seek a way out.

The director admitted that he never intended to deal with or solve the issues faced by the characters. He believed he could not provide a perfect ending to the predicament, much like in daily life. The English title As the Water Flows also reflects the fluid flow of life depicted in the film.