“Zoom In, Zoom Out”, Interview with Director Dong Jie

From the First Draft to the Finished Film

Presented in the Settimana Internazionale della Critica at the 83rd Venice Film Festival, Zoom In, Zoom Out is Dong Jie’s feature debut. The screenplay developed over five years, undergoing substantial changes along the way. One of the most significant transformations concerned the role of media and gaming. In the first draft, these elements were scattered throughout the story. In the finished film, they became central narrative devices, helping to shape the world inhabited by the protagonist.

The Meaning of the Title

The international title, Zoom In, Zoom Out, reflects the way people communicate through smartphones and the internet. Digital technology allows us to move closer to others, but it can also create distance.

The original Chinese title can be translated as “The Journey of Discovery.” It refers to the cyber magazine connected to the protagonist’s search for a missing man. At the same time, it describes his emotional journey: while trying to discover what happened to his friend, he gradually begins to understand himself and the world around him.

Searching Through the Virtual World

The film follows Shi as he tries to find out what happened to Gao, a missing friend whose fate remains uncertain. Unable to communicate openly with Gao’s girlfriend, Shi attempts to tell her that Gao may have died through a video game.The virtual world becomes a space where he can express thoughts and emotions that he cannot articulate in real life. What begins as an investigation gradually develops into a deeper exploration of grief, guilt and identity.

When Tragedy Becomes a Message

For Dong Jie, the story was not taken directly from a single real-life event. Instead, it was built from numerous small observations of contemporary life. A death or another devastating event can now be communicated through a short text message or a few impersonal words on a screen. At the same time, social media platforms can place images of war, loss or tragedy alongside jokes, memes and entertainment. This abrupt movement between extreme emotions became one of the film’s central subjects. The digital world does not necessarily make people feel less; rather, it changes the way they encounter and process what happens around them.

Performing Another Person’s Identity

Shi gradually begins to impersonate Gao, almost as if he were cosplaying his entire life. By assuming the missing man’s identity, he gains access to conversations and relationships that would otherwise remain closed to him. He is able to speak more freely with strangers, using Gao’s identity as a form of protection. Yet this performance also forces him to confront his own fears and feelings. The search for Gao therefore becomes a process of self-discovery. Shi is not only trying to understand the missing man’s story; he is also attempting to understand his own emotional isolation.

From Virtual Contact to Human Connection

Although the film initially explores a cold, mediated digital environment, it gradually moves towards a moment of genuine tenderness between strangers. At the end of the story, Shi speaks on Gao’s behalf to the wife of a delivery worker. This encounter creates a connection that is no longer based solely on online communication or role-playing.

For Dong Jie, this moment represents Shi’s emotional transformation. Having spent much of the film immersed in another person’s world, he finally begins to step outside himself.

Zooming Out

The title also describes the protagonist’s final movement. Shi spends the film zooming in on the life of a missing person, examining fragments of information in an attempt to reconstruct the truth. By the end, he is finally able to zoom out. He gains distance from the identity he has adopted and begins to look at his own life from a new perspective. The film’s conclusion therefore marks the possibility of a new beginning: not a complete escape from pain, but the first step towards reconnecting with reality and with other people.

A Portrait of Digital Disconnection

Combining gaming, social media and intimate human drama, Zoom In, Zoom Out portrays a generation accustomed to experiencing reality through screens. The film questions whether virtual spaces only separate people—or whether they can also become unexpected paths towards empathy. Through Shi’s journey, Dong Jie suggests that even a mediated encounter can eventually lead to a genuine emotional connection.

Plot