Salmon Run

By Xinning Shao

Yale College, Ezra Stiles

Class of 2026

Majoring in Cognitive Science & Comparative Literature

All my self-knowledge is obtained through parting — with people I love, cities I’ve lived in, and memories I’ve held. Through repeated acts of letting go, I piece together fragments of myself that exist simultaneously in the past, present, and future. In this mini dance film, a departure from home becomes a return to the home within me, an anchor among the tides of perception and truth. Like migratory salmon, I swim against the current into the past to be borne into the future.

Written and Directed by

Xinning Shao

Camera

Xinning Shao, Xuehui Yang

Actors

Xinning Shao, Xuehui Yang, Bing Shao

Music credits:

“Padri E Figli” by Bottega Baltazar. Licensed through Artlist.io.

“Adieu” performed by 17 Hippies, composed by Carsten Wegener, Christopher Blenkinsop, Dirk Trageser,

texted by Kristin Sauer, Dirk Trageser, published by Tyfoo Musikverlag GmbH.