Synopsis

Lunar Dial (2016)
15 min, Digital, China

In a series of surreal and dystopic landscapes littered with urban debris, characters find themselves in eerie situations where the rules of nature do not apply. Based on the artist’s acrylic paintings made between 2010 and 2016, the short animation presents a suspenseful lapse in space and time.
Gao Yuan (Chinese, b.1986) is a Beijing-based painter whose works depict parallel realities. Actively involved in her local queer community, Yuan’s artworks feature dreamy cityscapes and the lost youth confined within them.

Still Life (2006)
108 min, Putonghua, Chongqing and Shanxi dialects with Chinese and English subtitles, 35mm, China

A man and woman search for their respective estranged spouses in the millennia-old city of Fengjie, only to find it vanishing in the watery wake of the Three Gorges Dam. Their encounters soulfully illustrate the nature and human cost of development in China, on both an individual and communal scale.

Jia Zhangke (Chinese, b. 1970) is a multi-award-winning filmmaker based in Beijing. His films document and reveal changes within ordinary Chinese cities undergoing dramatic social transformation. Together, these narratives tell a poignant story of his native land whilst resonating with the modern-day human condition.