Never Walk Alone (2026)

In the sweeping grasslands of Huocheng, Ili, in Xinjiang, lives a nine-year-old Uyghur boy named Aire, whose heart beats for football. But his father forbids him from playing, haunted by a career-ending injury two decades ago. To the father, football is a destructive force that ruins lives. Undeterred, Aire practices in secret while tending sheep—until he loses one. When he learns the village’s five-a-side tournament offers a sheep as the prize, he sets out to form a team, win it all, and cover up his mistake. He gathers an unlikely, multi-ethnic crew and convinces Mijit, a retired coach, to train them—not knowing Mijit is tied to his father’s painful past. Through practices and matches, the children discover trust, while old wounds between father and son, coach and student, begin to heal. In the end, football reveals a powerful truth: through family, guidance, and friendship, we are never truly alone.