Retired Factory Worker's Lifelong Dream Takes Flight

"Take Off," a film that world premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival in 2025, follows the story of Li Mingqi, an ordinary worker in Northeast China who inherits his late father's lifelong obsession with flight. The film unfolds against the backdrop of China's dramatic economic transformation from the 1970s to the present.

After a homemade flying machine crashes and leaves his brother-in-law disabled, Li Mingqi and his wife, Li Xueqin, attempt to rebuild their lives by opening a dance hall in an abandoned factory museum, using a hot air balloon as a tourist attraction. However, when Li's nephew falls critically ill, he faces an impossible choice: accept the limitations of his earthbound existence or risk everything for one final flight.

For the film's director, Pengfei, "Take Off" represents a deepening of his thematic concerns, exploring the emotional dynamic between individuals and their dreams. The central tension between the grounded reality of factory workers' lives and the transcendent pull of flight required unwavering sincerity, as Pengfei sought to bring authenticity and warmth to the characters and their stories.