
ThespecialbondbetweenfilmmakerMei-lingHsiaoandherdaughter,whohasAspergersyndrome,ismeticulouslyrecordedoveraperiodof12years.Asaresult,weseeXiangYun/Elodiegrowfromacreativegirlintoayoungadultpreparingforacareerasapâtissier.ThismeansleavinghermotherinTaiwanandmovingtoFrance,whereherfatherlives,andwherethereisbettertraining.Butthedistancebetweenmotheranddaughterputsastrainontheirrelationship. MakingParallelWorld,asequeltoSomewhereovertheCloud(2007),isHsiao’swayofdealingwithherdaughter’sabsence.ThistimesheexploresXiangYun’sentireyouthbyincorporatingvideofromherchildhood.Thislongspanoftimeproducesaverycompletepicture:byseeingwhereshehascomefrom,wegainagreaterunderstandingofXiangYunandherdisorder.Theextendedscenesinthisfrankaccountcleverlyenabletheviewertoempathizewithboththepainfultensionsandthelovingbondbetweenmotheranddaughter.
