Skip to main content
It Must be Because I Decided to Leave film image; woman jogging through a dark rocky tunnel

It Must Be Because I Decided to Leave

Yi Ding Shi Yin Wei Wo Yao Li Kai

MODES

North American Premiere

A young woman’s drifting consciousness traces the mystery of an elusive red car.

Director
Cast

Jia Peng, Zhuoyun Chen, Yiqian Peng, Yuwei Tu, Dian Qi, Oliver Twist

Credits
Country of Origin

China/USA

Year

2025

Language

In Mandarin with English subtitles

Film Contact
Links
18+
19 min
Experimental & Avant Garde Shorts Women Directors

Credits & Director

Producer

Zhuoyun Chen

Screenwriter

Zhuoyun Chen

Cinematography

Luca Cioci

Editor

Zhuoyun Chen

Original Music

Keju Luo

Zhuoyun Chen headshot

Zhuoyun Chen

Zhuoyun Chen is a Chinese filmmaker based in Los Angeles. Using cryptic gestures, crafted objects, and elements of body horror, her work explores experimental narratives and the ways sociopolitical realities shape personal and collective experiences. Zhuoyun’s films have been screened internationally at venues including FIDMarseille, Bienal de la Imagen en Movimiento, Festival de Cine de Lima, the Atlanta Film Festival, the Alchemy Film and Moving Image Festival, Anthology Film Archives, and UCCA China.

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

Ask E. Jean

Dir. Ivy Meeropol
91 min

An inspiring and engaging portrait of E. Jean Carroll, the trailblazing journalist, author and advice columnist who stood up to power and beat Donald Trump in court, twice.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould

Dir. François Girard
93 min

A bona fide classic and arguably the greatest Canadian film of the 90s, Girard's dazzling deconstruction of the biopic gives us the mercurial pianist Glenn Gould as Picasso might have rendered him, a cubist portrait combining multimedia vignettes.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

King Arthur's Night

Dir. John Bolton
110 min

John Bolton's film of Niall McNeil and Marcus Youssef's musical staging recreates Camelot at Harrison Hot Springs. It's a self-referential piece which joyfully reframes a classical narrative through the prisms of disability, inclusivity, and imagination.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Dazed and Confused

Dir. Richard Linklater
102 min

The last day of high school in May, 1976: seniors debate party politics while next term's freshmen run the gauntlet of brutal initiation rites, barely comforted by the knowledge that they'll wield the stick one day.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Democracy Under Siege

Dir. Laura Nix
90 min

As the USA turns 250, Oscar-nominated director Laura Nix considers the roots of the current political crisis with commentary from historian Heather Cox Richardson, progressive politician Jamie Raskin, and cartoonist Ann Telnaes, among others.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Groundhog Day

Dir. Harold Ramis
101 min

If you haven't seen Groundhog Day that must be rectified immediately. Bill Murray is at his best as the TV weatherman stuck in a purgatory that might just be paradise.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre