Berlin-based sales company M-Appeal has acquired international sales rights to Chinese director Jie Dong’s debut feature, “Zoom In, Zoom Out”, before its premiere in Venice Critics’ Week. The deal gives the film a prominent international sales partner as it launches at the festival, while highlighting a new Chinese filmmaker whose work explores how digital life affects relationships and memory.

The story follows Shi as he searches for his missing flatmate Gao, joining Gao’s girlfriend YY to reconstruct clues across memories, chat logs and online spaces. Produced by Do Something Films, the film examines contemporary Chinese youth and the overlap between reality and virtual worlds; Dong previously worked as an editor on Cannes-premiered “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” in 2021.