The Initial Trailer for Kogonada’s Zi Evokes a Lyrical Urban Symphony

      After his charming debut, Columbus, and the intriguing sci-fi narrative, After Yang, Kogonada stepped into the realm of big-budget filmmaking with A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, a romantic fantasy that, despite its good intentions, didn’t resonate. Seeking to create something more spontaneous and free from complex studio demands, he traveled to Hong Kong with a few trusted collaborators to film a new project on the fly and in secrecy. The outcome is zi, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. It will have its New York premiere next week at the Museum of the Moving Image’s First Look 2026, and the first trailer for the film, featuring Michelle Mao, Haley Lu Richardson, and Jin Ha, has now been released.

      According to the Sundance synopsis: In Hong Kong, a young woman tormented by visions of her future self encounters a stranger who alters the course of her night — and perhaps her life. Kogonada revisits and plays with form in this delicate cinematic poem. Set against a stylish backdrop of Hong Kong's streets, zi embodies a film rich in emotion and a rhythmic confidence that embraces recursivity as both a method and a central theme. Kogonada's frequent collaborators, Michelle Mao, Haley Lu Richardson, and Jin Ha, depict transient outsiders wrestling with a clever blend of existential unease, romantic uncertainty, and personal memory. Straddling the line between sci-fi and the supernatural, a gentle, deep warmth emerges. Following his prior works, Columbus (2017 Sundance Film Festival), After Yang (2020 Sundance Film Festival), and A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, Kogonada presents a notably contained film that reflects a widespread sense of disconnection while nurturing a persistent feeling of tranquility. Through the smoldering remnants of relationships that are either fading or forming, zi invites viewers to immerse themselves in Kogonada’s authentically indie exploration of time fragmentation.

      In my Sundance review, I noted, “Rather than a return to form, this feels more like an exploration of instinctual experimentation; the resulting zi appears distinct from his previous works, flowing freely with passions and fears that reflect on both the past fading away and an uncertain future, while also functioning as a poetic symphony of the city. Though it may not engage fully on a narrative level, the project shows that Kogonada has not lost his filmmaking touch, creating a film that may resonate more personally for him than for many viewers.”

      Watch the trailer below.