Screening Schedule | May 9 The Fissures of Existence

The "African Plate" is not merely a geographical concept; it represents sunken strata and exposed social realities. Within this plate, moving images carry the weight of rock strata. Rejecting superficial polish and embellishment, they bear geological fissures, documenting people’s lives and struggles within established societal structures. Through *After Graduation* and *Special You*, we gain insight into two facets of "survival" perched on the margins of intimate relationships and society at large.

Then, I Graduated centers on such "fissures": the head-on collision between contemporary youth and social reality after stepping out of the shelter of the ivory tower. The prolonged hesitation of a single university graduate epitomizes the shared predicament of an entire generation that "cannot set their lives in motion". With a non-narrative rhythm, the film depicts the everyday state of "slow disintegration", pointing to the systemic speechlessness prevalent in the present era.

Uniquely You turns its lens inward to the daily lives of three families living with autism, capturing the mothers’ wavering between emotional breakdown and resilient perseverance amid long-term companionship. These children may be unable to speak or regulate their emotions, yet their dialogue with the world never ceases. The film offers no ready answers, instead immersing itself in the reality of "uncertainty": how a family can sustain care, endurance and faith over time.

Both films steer clear of sensational narrative thrills and elaborate visual aesthetics. Instead, they move slowly and persistently through the texture of daily life, confronting those fleeting moments most easily consigned to oblivion. Within this plate, "reality" is not a detached observation, but a gaze infused with emotion, physical presence and pain. Fissures are not just rifts in society, but gateways through which cinema pierces the surface of reality.

Prior to the official screening of the films, we sincerely invite all film enthusiasts — whether you are directors, screenwriters, producers, actors, scholars or movie lovers — to join us at Platform Bar outside the screening venue of Central Saint Martins for casual conversations. Grab a drink, and share your stories, projects and future plans with us.

Screening List

Then, I Graduated

Director: Yang Xinyi | Chinese Mainland | 2024 | 119 minutes

Synopsis: As a freshman on the verge of adulthood, I turned my camera toward a senior about to graduate. Unexpectedly, the filming stretched on intermittently for four years, marking my first full-length documentary work. The moment I pressed the record button brought me not only the ignorance and perseverance amid the passage of time but also a renewed reflection on life and personal values.

Director's Statement: College students constitute a large group in society, confronted with a host of complex dilemmas — the conflicts between ideals and reality, including career, love, the individual and society, and social stratification solidification, among others. These issues seem to be overlooked and evaded. As a member of the college student community, I attempted to explore the root causes of these problems and seek solutions, yet the difficulty far exceeded my expectations. When the filming concluded, these dilemmas still persist and linger on.

Meanwhile, I have also documented my ideological evolution over these four years. This film is likewise a portrayal of the creator’s self-awareness and personal growth.

Director's Biography: Born on December 3, 2000, in Changsha, Hunan Province. Graduated from Beijing Film Academy Modern Creative Media College.

In 2020, she independently produced the short documentary Return, which won the Best Film Award in the Anti-Pandemic Unit at the 13th Shenzhen Youth Film Festival.

In 2021, she directed the independent narrative short film Foot· Chat, also serving as screenwriter and editor.

From 2019 to 2023, she independently produced the feature-length documentary Then, I Graduated, acting as producer, director, cinematographer, and editor. This film marks her feature directorial debut.

Uniquely You

Director: Weng Yu | Chinese Mainland | 2024 | 110 minutes

Synopsis: One is non-verbal, one struggles to communicate, and one is moody and unpredictable—all of them live with autism. The film depicts the extraordinary life conditions and inner emotional worlds of three autistic individuals who differ in gender, age and family background. It focuses on the care and dedication their three families have given them, and portrays the perseverance, persistence and optimism of three mothers amid hardships. It truly presents an inspirational story of autistic individuals striving to overcome innate impairments and face their unique lives with positivity.

Director's Statement: This film aims to reveal the living status of the autistic group as a whole. Through narrative plots, it portrays their extraordinary lives. Though fate has endowed them with imperfections, they still live positively and optimistically, staying kind and pure to be themselves. We communicate with the autistic community from an equal perspective, voice their inner thoughts through cinematic language, help more people understand them, and encourage greater public attention and equal treatment towards them.

Director Introduction: A mainland Chinese film director, writer and experimental artist, graduated from Beijing Film Academy. His contemporary artworks have been invited to participate in many important exhibitions at home and abroad. He has published several novels and directed multiple films that have won awards at international film festivals. His representative works include the films All Living Beings Have Three Lives and Waves.

Post-Screening Review

On the fourth day of the active screening, we will return to the campus as the main venue and choose to hold the screening at the Central Saint Martins College, which has a strong artistic atmosphere. This time, we have deliberately selected two relatively "obscure" independent documentaries as the screening content. Although the screening could not proceed as originally planned due to on-site conditions and other factors, the audience still deeply felt the unique charm brought by the works we selected.

The two films distance themselves from the dramatic narrative pleasure and the visual complexity of the images, weaving through the crevices of daily life at a slow and stubborn pace, closely scrutinizing those moments that are most easily overlooked. In this section, "truth" is no longer a cool and detached perspective of observation, but a way of gazing that is infused with emotions, the body and pain. It is not flamboyant, yet always present, like the faintly visible texture in the dim light, quietly evoking the audience's rethinking of "seeing" and "being seen".

With the enthusiastic participation of Hungry Panda, we, as always, prepared free milk tea and snacks on the spot as special benefits for watching the film. Many foreign audiences were attracted to come and participate in this screening event.

A group photo of the on-site staff at "The Fissure of Survival"