FADE IN
Act 1
INT. BEDROOM - 08:30
In bed, PETER hears Ding! Ding!
PETER (V.O.): So many notifications. Ah, today's Mid-Autumn Festival.
Grabbing his smartphone, Peter sees many artwork greetings.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Years ago, I wrote a bilingual song to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Surfing YouTube, Peter finds his song's MV "Mid-Autumn Festival"(又到中秋) and copies the link.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Sharing the MV has been my way to reunite with relatives and friends on the festive day.
Listening to his MV.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I love the music, lyrics and particularly the way I sing it.
Peter pastes the copied link in response to the virtual greetings.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): To be healthy and happy, I'll swim in the Deep Water Bay today.
Act 2
INT. DINING ROOM - 21:30
Peter, his WIFE and DAUGHTERS#1 and #2 excitedly gather around a smartphone.
PETER (V.O.): We haven't done the video call for quite a while.
Daughter#1 initiates a video call.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): She has to be in Hong Kong to do the interpretation for us.
We see the respective live smartphone screens revealing the smiling faces of both families.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Similarly, her boyfriend has to be with his Mum in Busan.
We hear them exchanging warm greetings in Korean, Japanese, Cantonese, and English.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Originally, we could only communicate via Japanese.
We see and hear daughter#1 speaking Korean most of the time and in Japanese occasionally.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I'm amazed to find that she's pretty fluent in Korean now. She's learning Korean very well in SNU!
Daughter#2 responds as if she understands the exchanges in real time.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I love this virtual reunion. We celebrate the richness of languages and cultures.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): We'll see each other face-to-face in Busan next year.
MONTAGE OF PETER'S FAMILY'S REUNION EARLIER
A. Roads to NT. Evening. We see Peter's car moving at a snail's pace.
B. Hospital. Night. Peter, his wife and daughters rush inside.
C. Ward entrance. Continuous. A STAFF would only admit two persons at any one time.
D. Ward. Continuous. We see and hear very brief exchanges between Peter's Mum and them.
E. Car park. Later. The party takes their car and leave.
F. Roads from NT. Later. From their car, the party watches the full moon.
END MONTAGE
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Yesterday, I frequented lantern stalls. The lanterns triggered my fond memories.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When I was a young boy, I made my creative lanterns to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): And then I saw a lantern with the words "Moonlight over lotus pond" (荷塘月色) on it.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My Mum used to refer to 荷塘 as her root...and I imagined I might lit the lantern inside the hospital ward...
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I was so naive...But we did bring her mooncakes...
Signing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But my Mum couldn't recognize who we're, although we've tried hard to trigger her memory.
Act 3
INT. STUDY - 22:30
Having input the prompt: "Mid-Autumn Reunions" in an AI art generator in his smartphone, Peter sees a cubist image appearing.
PETER (V.O.): The Mid-Autumn Festival is seen as a time for family reunions, similar to
Thanksgiving in Western cultures.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Celebrating the beauty of nature particularly the full moon, we cherish family and friendly bonds.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): To me, this year's Mid-Autumn Festival is filled with mixed emotions - but to enjoy a little and to endure a lot is the art of life.
As Peter re-watches his MV "Mid-Autumn Festival"(又到中秋), we hear him singing:...冇嘢唔知點算,個月光都唔係日日圓...
FADE OUT
THE END
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