Easy, My Friend

Easy, My Friend is an animated feature in early development from Chinese director Xu Zao, whose debut Light Pillar premiered at the 2026 Berlinale. The project was selected for the HAF Film Lab, a development program run by the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society. Still at the script stage, the story centers on an illustrator whose livelihood is displaced by AI technology, forcing her to reimagine her life through an unexpected outlet: rooftop gardening in northern China. Xu aims to complete the screenplay by July 2027. As with his previous work, Xu is writing, directing, and handling production design, bringing his signature hand-drawn animation style to a narrative that explores technology, labor, and resilience in contemporary China.