After recently going blind, a young man struggles to navigate his new life in the shadows. Like any other person on the hunt for human connection he turns to social media and uses his phone’s screen reader function to re-engage with the world. In Touch, Chinese writer and filmmaker Song Huang reimagines this true tale about his friend who was diagnosed with terminal cancer and lost their sight before the age of thirty.

“Even when struggling with cancer and blindness, my friend's longing for romance had not altered one bit,” explains the LA-based director. “She became active in the dating app scene and began to secretly explore the possibility of finding love and having sex in the cyber world.” 

There is an obstructive darkness that shrouds most of the action in this film, which mirrors the frustration the young man experiences at the doctor’s office, or masturbating to a stranger’s voice. As he continues to play out his former identity on the digital stage, “fulfilling his physical desires never heals the real emptiness of his heart,” says the director.

Referring back to his friend, Huang comments, “Without her celphonel she became someone she wasn’t familiar with. So on the first anniversary of her sight loss we agreed to make this film. It celebrates the search for love and her new life.”