I Have No Legs, and I Must Run
2022 · 14m · China
Directed by Yue Li
Tones: contemplative, dark, melancholic
A veteran short-distance sprinter whose career is fading must confront his crumbling identity when a gifted young athlete — his younger self in every way — joins the team. What begins as a sports drama becomes a psychological reckoning with who we are when the thing that defines us is taken away.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Fading sprinter meets his younger self on the team — Whiplash with Sanda kickboxers and a Harlan Ellison title nod. BFI London Best Short carries weight; I'm intrigued.
Yue Li casts amateur Sanda fighters and titles the film after Ellison — the BFI London Best Short prize is a serious imprimatur. Athletic identity-crisis as existential horror is a register few attempt; this appears to honor it.
BFI London Film Festival Best Short Film winner using a real amateur Sanda team as the non-pro supporting cast — that's exactly the texture that gives a sports-identity drama its physical truth. The Harlan Ellison title nod telegraphs the psychological-horror register.
Reviews
Writer/director Yue Li crafts a gripping psychological thriller that captures an intersection of universal themes with a remarkable attention to detail, making the film both utterly compelling and emotionally relatable.
Festivals
- BFI London Film Festival 2022, Best Short Film
- Palm Springs International ShortFest 2023, Special Mention