Winter Psalm, the deeply moving short film by director Hao Yan, made its U.S. premiere at Film Invasion Los Angeles to an overwhelming emotional response. During the screening, the festival host publicly admitted he was brought to tears multiple times—a testament to the film’s quiet power and emotional authenticity. In addition to its L.A. debut, Winter Psalm was recently honored with the Best Asian Short Film award at the Cannes World Film Festival, and also took home a Bronze Telly Award for Social Impact, marking Hao Yan’s third Telly Award win.
A lyrical exploration of identity, abandonment, and belonging, Winter Psalm follows Irene, a Chinese American adoptee, who returns to her former foster home years after being left behind. The visit forces her to confront long-buried memories, internal conflict, and the pain of feeling like an outsider in what once was her home.
Hao Yan spent months interviewing real-life adoptees who grew up in Western families after being adopted from China during the one-child policy era to bring Irene's character to life with emotional honesty. These deeply personal conversations shaped the film's heart, and one interview, in particular, left a lasting impact: the childhood photograph clutched in Irene’s hand in the final scene comes directly from a real adoptee’s memory and photo album. By blending cinematic storytelling with real-life fragments, Hao Yan creates a layered and haunting portrait of longing and unresolved identity.
"This film is not just fiction," Hao Yan shared. "It’s a mirror of real, lived experiences. Many adoptees I spoke to shared stories filled with silence, uncertainty, and a yearning to know who they are. I wanted to honor that emotional complexity on screen.”
As a graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), Hao Yan is a filmmaker known for his precise visual language and emotionally grounded storytelling. Winter Psalm has been praised for its restrained cinematography, somber lighting, and delicate sound design, all of which help immerse the viewer in Irene’s inner world.
Following the success of the short film, Hao Yan is now developing a feature-length adaptation of Winter Psalm. Audiences have expressed deep curiosity about Irene’s backstory—what led her to this moment and what happened in the years she disappeared. The upcoming feature will expand upon Irene’s earlier life, offering answers to the mysteries the short only hinted at.
With Winter Psalm, Hao Yan has delivered an award-winning film and sparked essential conversations around identity, loss, and cultural displacement. As anticipation builds for the feature, one thing is sure: Irene’s story is far from over.
