Guest Country: China: Sun Xun, the Magician and the World
Discover the filmography of Sun Xun, the Chinese filmmaker who’s considered the most original artist of his generation.
Like the South African William Kentridge, filmmaker Sun Xun is an animator whose work is deeply rooted in the contemporary art scene. With a dozen short films under his belt since 2005, Xun enjoys exploring several different techniques to allude to historical themes as well as issues related to the industrialisation of his country.
The central figure in most of his films, the Magician, decked out in a tailcoat and top hat, symbolises both illusions and lies: he travels through history – which the filmmaker qualifies as "the lie of time" – and tries to peddle utopias that are so unattainable, they transform into apocalyptic situations.
Flirting with the surrealist movement – one can notice influences from Ernst, Delvaux and Magritte – Sun Xun’s work also calls on influential Western theorists such as Marx, Adorno and Horkheimer. Both particularly unusual and easily recognisable, his films are thought provoking and stay in your mind because of their absurd and fantastic patterns and also the powerful messages that drive them.
As part of the special programmes paying tribute to China, the Festival invites you to get to know one of China’s most talented filmmakers in this generation.
