Gong Youbin was born into a poor Chinese family. He has not seen his mother since he was three months old. Because of a poetry class in school, he embarks on an emotional journey by learning to write poems through his imagination and exploration. By observing his upbringing in the countryside of Hunan, surrounded by dreams and the harsh realities of his family’s struggles, Always is an allegory for the loss of innocence, as Gong inevitably has to grow up out of childhood
and face reality.
CREW:
Director: Deming Chen
Producer: Hansen Lin
Cinematographer: Deming Chen
Editor: I-chu Lin
Production and Sales
HandsOn Studio LLC
Awards
CPH:DOX 2025 (Denmark) – World Premiere – International Competition – DOX:Award Winner;
Jeonju International Film Festival (South Korea) – Best Picture Award;
DocsBarcelona (Spain) – Best Editing Award;
Camden International Film Festival (USA) – Harrell Award for Best Documentary Feature Tirana International Film;
Festival (Albania) – Special Jury Award;
Inconvenient Films (Lithuania) – Special Mention, Discovery Competition Jury Award;
BFI London Film Festival (UK) – Special Mention for the Grierson Award;
El Gouna Film Festival (Egypt) – FIPRESCI Award / NETPAC
Award / Best Documentary Award;
Golden Horse Film Festival (Taiwan) – Nominee for Best Documentary Film;
Singapore International Film Festival (Singapore) – Best Asian Film;
Asian Pacific Screen Awards (Australia) – Special Mention for Best Documentary Film;
Cinema Eyes Honor – Nominee For Spotlight Award Special
Director
Deming Chen
Deming Chen is an emerging director and cinematographer based in Beijing, China, having studied at the Li Xianting Film School. His work is marked by a restrained yet expressive visual style, exploring themes of personal emotion and identity shaped by broader social and historical forces.Selected Filmography
Always (2025), Butterfly Overlap (2022), Song of Shiratori (2020), Night Tour (2018), Silence is unknown (2017) 
