Ziqi Yang, Director, Writer 

Sloan Grant(s) Received: 2024, USC, Production Award

Project Type: Short

Genre: Drama

Length: 16 minutes

Field of Science: Astronomy

Stage: Development

Synopsis:

On a camping trip with her classmates, 11-year-old Luna, a curious and headstrong Chinese American girl, sets off alone to find the perfect vantage point for observing a rare total lunar eclipse. Her path leads her into a misty forest where time itself seems to bend—until she stumbles into the Qing Dynasty and meets Wang Zhenyi, a brilliant but underrecognized female astronomer from 18th-century China.
Though skeptical of each other at first, the two form an unlikely bond over their shared love of the stars. But their journey is disrupted when they come across a village temple where a self-proclaimed master is exploiting the eclipse as a sign of divine punishment, coercing desperate villagers into giving up their last belongings in exchange for protection.
Outraged, Luna confronts the injustice—only to find herself seized as a blasphemer. To save her, Zhenyi steps forward and reveals her own knowledge of astronomy, offering to explain the eclipse not through superstition, but science. Risking arrest and persecution, she uses everyday objects—lamps, mirrors, and lanterns—to recreate the alignment of the sun, Earth, and moon, demonstrating the true nature of the celestial event.
Though some remain unconvinced, the demonstration plants a seed of doubt and wonder. For Zhenyi, the moment marks a quiet act of defiance: in a world that refuses to recognize women as scholars, this is a precious chance to demonstrate her work to the public. And for Luna, it is a life-changing encounter with a role model lost to history.
As the eclipse reaches totality under the stars, the two girls—separated by centuries but united by curiosity—share a moment of awe and hope. Zhenyi gives Luna her notebook—filled with equations, diagrams, and dreams she may never be allowed to publish.
When Luna wakes up alone in the woods, she wonders if it was all a dream. She opens her astronomy book and sees Wang Zhenyi’s name listed next to a crater on Venus to honor her findings. In that moment, Luna understands: faced suppression in her own era, her work was recognized and eventually passed on to the world.
Eclipse is a period adventure short film. Inspired by the real-life achievements of Wang Zhenyi, the story celebrates female scientist’s curiosity and courage across time. For Zhenyi, it’s a moment to defy silence and share her voice. For Luna, it’s a glimpse of who she could become—and the power of legacy to carry knowledge forward, one generation to the next.