The filmmaker Kogonada — known for the quiet intelligence of Columbus and the subtle sci-fi of After Yang — moved away from studio constraints after a larger-scale misstep, choosing to make a more immediate picture on a tight scale. Instead of navigating the logistics that accompany bigger productions, he traveled to Hong Kong with a small group of collaborators and shot a film in a deliberately low-profile way. The result, called zi, premiered at the Sundance film festival and is slated for a New York premiere at the Museum of the Moving Image’s First Look 2026.
This new work was produced with an emphasis on spontaneity and close-knit creative exchange. By working in secret and off the usual studio grid, Kogonada embraced a different rhythm: one that privileges instinct and on-the-spot choices. The film’s first trailer has been released, featuring performances from Michelle Mao, Haley Lu Richardson, and Jin Ha. Early materials and festival write-ups describe zi as intimate, stylistically confident, and woven from recurring images and ideas that fold time and memory into the film’s architecture.
How zi came to be
Kogonada’s path to this project followed a familiar arc for directors seeking to regain a sense of control: step away from sprawling productions and return to a smaller, more flexible set-up. In that spirit he and a handful of trusted collaborators shot in Hong Kong without the usual fanfare. This approach allowed the team to capture the city with immediacy, producing a film that feels both improvised and carefully composed. The decision to work quietly is itself part of the film’s story: it reflects a desire for creative freedom, letting the director focus on mood, rhythm, and the few actors who anchor the narrative rather than on large-scale logistical demands.
What the film is about
The festival synopsis frames zi around a single night in Hong Kong: a young woman troubled by images of her future self crosses paths with a stranger who alters the trajectory of her evening — and perhaps her life. That premise is used as a starting point for a movie that blends genre hints (a nod to sci-fi and the supernatural) with a reflective character study. Recursivity and memory are central motifs; the film repeatedly returns to certain moments and images, creating a sense of temporal layering that becomes one of its structural signatures.
Synopsis in festival terms
The Sundance framing emphasized zi as a kind of cinematic poem: a stylish walk through urban streets, a story carried more by mood than by plot mechanics. Actors are described as portraying transient misfits who navigate romantic unease, existential worry, and the sediment of personal recollection. The film sits at the edge of genres — not strictly science fiction, not strictly supernatural — and instead aims to build warmth and human connection through repeated encounters and emotional echoes. Festival notes highlight the film’s restraint and compact scale, calling it a contained work that still feels expansive in feeling.
Themes and tone
zi explores a pervasive sensation of drifting — characters who are both untethered and quietly at peace. The film’s palette, pacing, and recurring motifs make temporal fragmentation a formal concern as much as an emotional one. Through the sparks and smolders of relationships beginning and ending, Kogonada cultivates an atmosphere that is both uneasy and comforting. The project’s reliance on repetition and cyclical imagery turns the city into a kind of score, a city symphony that supports a meditation on identity, memory, and the possibility of change.
Early impressions and the trailer
Critical responses at Sundance suggested that zi is less a tidy return to earlier styles and more an experiment rooted in instinct. One reviewer noted that the film feels distinct from Kogonada’s previous features: looser, more personal, and more interested in feeling than in narrative drive. While some viewers may find the storytelling elusive, the film demonstrates the director’s continued sensitivity to composition and mood. The newly released trailer teases these qualities, offering glimpses of the city at night, the three lead performers, and the film’s recurring visual motifs. For those tracking Kogonada’s evolution, zi signals a deliberate, intimate detour that still bears the filmmaker’s distinct touch.
As audiences prepare for the Museum of the Moving Image’s presentation at First Look 2026, the trailer provides the first public window into this secretive production. Whether zi will convert every viewer is uncertain; what feels clear is that Kogonada made a conscious choice to pare back, to prioritize improvisation and emotional texture, and to let a city’s streets shape a compact, resonant cinematic experiment.