Visions du Réel 2026 — Burning Lights Competition

Sydney Film Festival 2026 — Documentary Australia Award winner

Melbourne International Film Festival 2026 — Official Selection

Tokyo International Film Festival 2026 — World Focus

UPCOMING SCREENINGS

TOKYO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL · WORLD FOCUS

All times are Japan Standard Time (JST).

29 October 2026 · 12:20
Kadokawa Cinema Yurakucho
Q&A with Vee Shi (scheduled; subject to change)
3 November 2026 · 14:20
TOHO Cinemas Hibiya · Screen 13

SCHEDULE & TICKETS ↗

FULL FESTIVAL HISTORY

Visions du Réel 2026 — Burning Lights Competition
Sydney Film Festival 2026 — Documentary Australia Award winner
Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) 2026 — Official Selection
Busan International Film Festival 2026 — Wide Angle: Documentary Showcase
Tokyo International Film Festival 2026 — World Focus

“A film that challenged our ideas of what documentary can be and what it can do.”— SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL DOCUMENTARY AUSTRALIA AWARD

“A miracle of close documentary filmmaking.”— THE CURB

“Lilting, bruised yet uplifting family portrait.”— SCREENHUB · ★★★★

“Authentic, culturally specific family stories that transcend borders.”— BUSINESS DOC EUROPE

PRESS & PUBLICITY

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SYNOPSIS

Time and Tide explores contemporary China through the eyes of a multigenerational family navigating the pressures of familial obligation.

Filmmaker Vee Shi’s father, a once proud and stubborn patriarch, is in poor health following a stroke. A longtime Australian resident, Vee Shi hasn’t seen his father for several years. In truth, Vee Shi has always been distant from his family. He heads to his remote hometown in Fuqing with the dual purpose of making a fiction film. But as he turns his camera on his family, including his unhappily married mother and single-mum sister, reality and fiction start to blur as generational pain and regret are exposed.

Time and Tide — film still — Time and Tide · © Niu Studios

Time and Tide · film stills © Niu Studios

TEAM & CREDITS

Written & Directed by: Vee Shi
Producers: Nicholson Ren
Vee Shi
Executive Producers: Nicholson Ren
Vee Shi
Michael McMahon
Director of Photography: Nicholson Ren
Sound Recordist: Yilin Xie
Original Music: Luna Pan
Sound Mix and Design: Music and Effects
Hwasong Lim
Editor: Vee Shi
Duration: 99 minutes
Languages & Subtitles: Fuqing dialect and Mandarin
English subtitles

Vee Shi

Writer · Director · Producer

Vee Shi is a filmmaker whose work has been recognised by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) Awards, the Screen Producers Australia Awards and the Iris Prize. He is a recipient of both Australian Directors’ Guild and Australian Writers’ Guild awards.

Nicholson Ren

Producer · Cinematographer

Nicholson Ren is a Malaysian-Australian Producer and Cinematographer based in Melbourne, Australia.

He produced and lensed the AACTA-nominated short film Jia which has screened in over 30 film festivals internationally while also winning multiple national awards.

Nicholson has also been part of the Camera and Video Team on studio projects such as Ricky Stanicky (2023), Betterman (2024) and Insidious: Out of the Further (2026).

Visit Nicholson Ren’s website ↗

WATCH TRAILER

Time and Tide · Official trailer