International Premiere
I CANCEL MYSELF 我取消我自己
Short film Competition 1
Year of Production 2025
Production Countries/Regions China
Duration 5 mins
Genres Drama
Dialogue Language(s) Mandarin
Subtitle Language(s) Chinese
Director(s) Hydia Han
Director’s Bio
Xia Han graduated from the Central Academy of Drama and is currently based in Beijing. Her work often focuses on urban independent youth and cultural scenes.Her short film Floaters was selected as one of the top five finalists in the 2021 The One International Women’s Film Festival’s support program. Her feature project Lost My Track was among the top ten finalists in the 2023 "CFDG Young Director Support Program" and is currently in development.
She is also one of the hosts of the podcast Sneeze, which has garnered over one million followers across platforms. As both a filmmaker and media personality, she is a multidimensional content creator.
Synopsis
Freda, a single woman over 45, has reached the age where the lines of her life have begun to take shape—and yet, she’s still caught up in the fickle, everyday uncertainties: Has her period truly ended? Should she dare to seek love, or simply get on with the day?Doing everything alone—is that something one can truly accept?
True freedom is only ever imagined.
Festivals & Awards
2025 19th FIRST International Film Festival - First Short Short Film of The Year
Scriptwriter(s)
Hydia Han
Producer(s)
Yifan Li
Executive Producer(s)
Hydia Han
Key Casts
Chenjie Tong
Curators’ note
While youth is endlessly romanticised on screen, menopause remains largely absent. I Cancel Myself brings this silenced experience into view. Wrapped in vivid colour, 45-year-old Freda navigates hot flashes, irritation, and unease, actively cancelling the social gaze placed upon middle-aged women. Aging becomes not loss, but agency. A breeze passes through Freda, carrying a freedom that reaches beyond the frame. (Johanna Peng, Xiyun Li edited)
Director’s Statement
I CANCEL MYSELF is a day in her life of a woman over 40 — a detailed record of the many struggles she faces. She worries about the disappearance of her period and the early symptoms of menopause. She is still subjected to the male gaze, the stare and jokes. Yet most of the time, she is invisible. Her physical strength and energy have declined. She does everything on her own, but past a certain age, this self-sufficiency starts to look strange. She becomes a point of comparison — every seemingly "happier" scenario highlights her own sense of helplessness and solitude.
