My Name Is Peng

Peng Ruan filmed himself obsessively from the moment he arrived in Europe from China. The camera became his best friend. He shot a total of 60 hours of amateur footage that captures his life over a period of six years. Film students in Barcelona edited this raw material to create a candid portrait of a man who doesn't act as if his situation is better than it is. He chooses to film himself precisely at those moments that are most difficult or uncertain, such as when he finishes his work at the restaurant at midnight and still hasn't eaten, and when he gets fired for the third time in Spain. He picks at the hand he spilled hot oil on, but is more upset about getting the oil on his new leather shoes: "My skin will recover, but not the leather." Nothing is spared the camera's eye, whether it's the blisters on his hand or the scars on his legs. "The first year you spend outside of China, you always talk to everybody optimistically. The second one you just talk to yourself, and the third one you don't have the words anymore. Maybe year I'll stop talking altogether."