In the 1990s, a group of students on the campus of the Chinese Southern Academy of Arts are pursuing their studies and preparing to face the world. China is opening up to the West and the students’ lives are a tangle of love stories and friendships, artistic research, ideals and ambitions brought about by new influences. Caught between tradition and modernity, they have to decide who they want to become.
Filmmaker and painter Liu Jian returns to the Berlinale Competition with an animated film that combines stylised modern illustrations with a passion for art and life. Suffused with a dark offbeat humour, his work depicts the hopes and artistic dreams of an entire generation as it passes into adulthood. People, events and styles blend with the urban and winter landscape of a country undergoing rapid change.
by Liu Jian People’s Republic of China 2023 Mandarin,  Subtitles: English,  German 118’ Colour World premiere | Animation

Crew

DirectorLiu Jian
ScreenplayLin Shan, Liu Jian
AnimationLi Jiajia
EditingLiu Jian
MusicDavid Wen-Wei Liang, Sun Yunfan, Cui Jian, Alex Liu, Chen Li
Sound DesignLi Danfeng, Gao Ruifeng
SoundLi Danfeng
ProducersYang Cheng, Shen Lihui, Gao Shiming
Executive ProducerWang Lynne

Produced by

Nezha Bros. Pictures

Peking, People’s Republic of China

Modern Sky Entertainment

Peking, People’s Republic of China

China Academy of Art, School of Animation and Game

Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China

World Sales

Liu Jian

Born in China in 1969, he graduated with a degree in Chinese painting from the Nanjing Art Institute in 1993 and has been working in animation since 1995. He founded the Le-joy Animation Studio in 2007. His first animated film, Piercing 1, screened at numerous international festivals and won the Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Animated Feature Film. In 2017, his animation Have a Nice Day premiered in the Berlinale Competition and went on to screen at over 50 festivals around the world including BFI London, Sitges, Thessaloniki and Annecy. He currently teaches animation filmmaking at the China Academy of Art.

Filmography (animated films)

2010 Citong wo (Piercing I) 2011 Chaos & Order; short film · Face; short film · Look At This Man; short film 2017 Hao ji le (Have a Nice Day) 2022 Art College 1994

Dates

Fri Feb 24 12:15

Berlinale Palast

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Fri Feb 24 18:30

Haus der Berliner Festspiele

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Sat Feb 25 16:00

Akademie der Künste

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