Screening Schedule: The Pioneering Landforms of the 5.11 Eruption

The Americas, a continent formed by the interweaving and superimposition of voyage misinterpretation, colonial accumulation, primitive settlement and modern capital, has always been in a state of continuous movement, deformation and narrative fissure. It is not merely a drifting plate in a geographical sense, but also a metaphor for the continuous deconstruction, differentiation and reshaping in the spiritual and cultural space. The avant-garde images gathered in this unit are precisely the heterogeneous languages that have quietly grown in the crevices of the earth's crust and cultural faults. They carry a "wild" temperament, probing, wandering and breaking at the boundaries of form, rhythm and concept, and thereby opening up their own viewing paths.

The short film Ice Link reflects the loneliness and vulnerability in the lives of young people on the outskirts of the city through conversations with strangers. Beijing Mushrooms transforms into an electronic ecological note, quietly observing the cyber life that is quietly emerging in the crevices of the city. The Birthday Party wanders at the junction of reality and illusion, telling a fable about existence, memory and disappearance, both illusory and real, drifting and uncertain. Landing Countdown reflects the continuous drifting and struggle of contemporary individuals in loneliness and uncertainty with an image rhythm like a countdown to the end of the world. Breed is a bold and dynamic visual poem. Amidst sound and images, it deconstructs the narrative logic and builds a unique visual and auditory experience.

Meanwhile, this unit will specially screen the feature film The Small Village. The film takes a director's return to his hometown to make a film as a clue, turning "making a film" itself into the object of the film. Vague village legends, tight funds, a loose amateur team and completely opposite creative concepts form a shooting predicament that lies between fiction and reality, drama and daily life. As the shooting progressed, the film gradually became uncontrollable and self-questioning. The meaning of creation, the reality and fiction of the images, and the subjectivity of narration all quietly loosened and continuously disintegrated on this ridge of the field.

Avant-garde imagery is not a decorative experimental game, but a bold practice that reclaims freedom, adventure and the unknown into the language of visual imagery. On this avant-garde landscape of constant eruption, drift and fission, every frame shines like firelight from a crack, illuminating the obscured reality, breaking through the barriers of conventions and viewing inertia, and inviting the audience to rethink the ways of seeing, imagery and their own existence with an open, aware and skeptical perspective.

Screening List

The Small Village

Director: Chen Jiwen | Chinese Mainland | 2024 | 90 Minutes

Synopsis: A director leaves the city and returns to an isolated small village, planning to shoot a film based on the village's historical legends. However, the historical legends themselves are vague; the amateur team lacks funds and experience, suitable actors are hard to find, and team members hold completely different understandings of the creation. As the filming progresses, making the movie becomes increasingly difficult.

Director's Statement: My hometown is an isolated small village. Since childhood, I have been curious about why my ancestors chose to settle in such a remote place. I later learned that they came here to escape wars and chaos. Now that the global situation is turbulent, my small village once again embodies the charm of being secluded from the outside world. Yet with the rapid advancement of urbanization in China, the village's population keeps shrinking and it is on the verge of disappearing. That is why I am eager to create a film dedicated to my hometown and its villagers.

Director Introduction: Born in 1983 in Fujian Province, he currently resides in Shenzhen. He wrote novels during his university years, later worked in the advertising industry, and has been engaged in new media work in recent years. He is now the core creator of the self-media platform "Lightning Film Studio". In his spare time, he dabbles in film and television creation and completed his first feature film The Small Village in 2024.

Ice Link

Director: Wang Ziyin | Chinese Mainland | 2024 | 10 Minutes

Synopsis: In the nighttime hours of Beijing, I wait alone at the entrance of an ice rink for it to open. A stranger happens to pass by, and we strike up a conversation, talking about danger and safety, as well as unanswered questions in life. As dawn breaks, the stranger leaves with their stories, and the ice rink finally opens its doors...

Breed

Director: Sun Yiyang | Chinese Mainland | 2024 | 8 Minutes

Synopsis:

The sky is vast and the wilderness boundless;

alone stand maple trees at the edge of heaven.

They bear thousands of seeds that transform into butterflies,

which linger over rippling water and wander afar.

Landing Countdown

Director: Dai Wei | Taiwan, China | 2023 | 14 Minutes

Synopsis: As night falls and the whistle blows, the teenagers' world awakens. They roam through the darkness, following preset routines and moving quietly for hidden purposes, gathering and dispersing time and again. When the sun rises tomorrow, no trace of their presence will remain. This is a story of covert operations; following in the footsteps of these youngsters reveals a poignant tale of youth.

The Birthday Party

Director: Li Minghao | Chinese Mainland | 2024 | 19 Minutes

Synopsis: Jiang Ming, who suffers from a hidden illness, returns to his hometown and meets the extraordinary woman Jiang Yi. The two seem to share some past connection. Endowed with the power of foresight, Jiang Yi instructs Jiang Ming to head to a certain place before dark, giving him a bird to lead the way in search of "Eleven".

Jiang Ming sets off and encounters an extraordinary incident on the journey. A giant tree blocks his path and chases away the guiding bird. The tree speaks in human words, manipulates time and space, and coerces Jiang Ming into doing its bidding by traveling to another location.

Jiang Ming presses onward. Just as the tree foretold, Jiang Yi tries to dissuade him along the way. Stricken by an asthma attack that leaves him starved of oxygen, Jiang Ming is too weak to think clearly yet resolves to keep walking forward without turning back. Jiang Yi can only let out a helpless cry.

In the end, Jiang Ming transforms into a withered tree standing by the lake. Fireworks bloom one after another across the sky behind him. Is "Eleven" here? It remains an unsolved mystery.

Beijing Mushroom

Director: Dong Jie | Chinese Mainland | 2024 | 9 Minutes

Synopsis: A serious speculation on the secret behind the birth of "Beijing Mushroom".

Post-Screening Review

As the active screening draws to a close, we hope to bring this screening project, which spans geographical and emotional sections, to a close with a more avant-garde curatorial perspective and a positive outlook on the future of images. On that day, the feature film "Buddha Walks Over the Ridge of the Field" with a "meta-film" flavor and a trendy style, as well as five experimental short films with diverse styles, were screened.

It is worth mentioning that the number of spectators on this day reached its peak and even exceeded the venue's capacity limit at one point. Perhaps it is precisely because of the distinct theme and avant-garde content that it has attracted more viewers who are curious about the language of images. In our planning and interpretation, avant-garde images are no longer merely formal experimental games, but rather an honest practice that truly brings freedom, adventure and the unknown back to the screen. This is not only a breakthrough in the viewing experience, but also a bold imagination and collective inquiry into the future possibilities of images.

A group photo of the on-site staff at the "Pioneer Landform of Eruption"