Yong Le, a young migrant worker from the south, salvages furniture to re-sell. He lives in a room in Beijing's Underground City, a labyrinthian former bomb shelter that serves as cheap housing for people looking for opportunity in the big city. But after a bad work accident leaves him temporarily blind, he has to use a rope to find his way around the dimly lit basement halls, until the night meets a girl at the other end of his rope. Xiao Yun, is a migrant too. She is desperately trying to find new employment so that she can leave her job pole dancing at nights. Her meeting with Yong Le and their burgeoning relationship encourages her to hunt for a more respectable job. At ground level, old Lao Jin has been struggling for years to get a decent compensation deal from the authorities who want to demolish his house. His health is declining and his savings are evaporating. And he's counting on Yong Le to sell his furniture at a good price. Three lives propelled by the "Chinese Dream" intermingle in the vast melting pot of the Beijing metropolis.
"I used to be a ‘drifter' myself, in Paris, and my family is also currently suffering the troubles brought about by the relocation projects. That is why I am so passionate about and sensitive to this subject. I wish to portray the real emotions of the ‘southern drifters' and reflect both the coldness and warmth that co-exist in this environment." [Pengfei]
PENGFEI (Beijing, 1982) was born into a family of Peking Opera performers in Beijing. Under the influence of his family, he developed a strong passion for the arts. He went to Paris to study film at Institute International de l'Image et du Son and majored in film directing. After seven years of immersion in European culture, which transformed his personality and views on life, he returned to China. Prior to Pengfei's feature film debut, he directed three short films and was Tsai Ming Liang's a.d. for Face in 2009, The Diary of a Young Boy, and the short Walker in 2012. Pengfei got his first film made - Underground Fragrance - thanks to the support of Cinemart in 2011, the Cannes' Atelier in 2012, the Production Award from TorinoFilmLab in 2011, and the Sundance Screenwriters Lab Cinereach Award in 2012.2015 Underground Fragrance
2007 Le luxe: Portraits d'Humains (short)
2006 Et si tout pouvais recommencer (short)
2005 Entre mon rêve et la réalité (short)