Apple is continuing its strategy of telling a Chinese New Year story using only its phone technology, this year focusing on three generations of women in a family and how breaking from cultural convention impacts them on Chinese New Year.
For the past few years, Apple has written a poignant family-related story around Chinese New Year and used the technology within its phones to show how professional content can be made only using a mobile phone.
The ads can be viewed on Apple's Youku channel.
For 2020, the story is called ‘Daughter’ and is inspired by true stories about a woman who goes against cultural norms to raise her daughter on her own. The story shows the tensions this creates with her own mother and the challenges she faces in bringing up a child by herself around the Chinese New Year.
While the film is shot using Apple’s 4K technology on the iPhone 11 Pro, the talent brought in on the ad is very much professional. Academy Award-nominated director Theodore Melfi and award-winning cinematographer Lawrence Sher both worked on the ad, while award-winning Chinese actress Zhou Xun plays the main character.
The concept behind the story was to show how there are big generational differences in China, particularly when it comes to the concept of family. The meaning underneath the film, according to Apple is “no matter how much we all grow apart, humanity has the power to bring us together”.
Apple has also launched a ‘behind the scenes’ film, to help people inspired by the film learn how to make professional-quality films themselves. Apple also hosted a Q&A session at its Shanghai store this weekend, featuring Melfi and Sher.
: 'Daughter'
Daughter tells the story a single mother, played by award-winning Chinese actress Zhou Xun, who defies the cultural convention of dependence on a husband, causing her to become estranged from her mother. Determined to define her own rules, she finds herself working on Chinese New Year’s Eve only to discover an unexpected reunion. Daughter reflects the rapidly changing social norms of China and the generational differences between traditional families and modern youth. It underscores the important message that no matter how much we all grow apart, humanity has the power to bring us together.
To keep up to date with what brands are doing to celebrate Chinese New Year 2020, the year of the metal rat, visit the CNY 2020 page and CNY campaign round-up.
