Li Luo

A modern adaptation of the Ming Dynasty novel Journey to the West (aka Monkey) in which Emperor Li Shimin suffers a short death.

As with everything in life, the same goes for East Lake, a threatened lake near the expanding mega city of Wuhan. You can get worked up about it and get involved - or you can think, it won’t affect me. Fortunately there’s the intriguing new film by Li Luo, which brings to an end these doubts. East Lake (Dong Hu) is a scenic area in the city of Wuhan, threatened by new amusement parks, high-rises and even an airport. ‘East Lake is getting smaller and smaller, but it's bigger and bigger in my memory,’ wrote a friend to the Canada-based Chinese filmmaker Li Luo as a result of the development. In a lucid way, the film investigates how the lake is linked to the people, leading to reflection on identity and survival in today’s China. The form is varied and free. Li uses documentary as well as fictional style elements, and often an ironic mixture of both. © iffr.com

The title refers to a pond in Wuhan, China that local anglers frequent, but where they can’t catch any fish. The film depicts several individuals’ strange behaviors in public spaces and their internal struggles.

A subtle combination of documentary and fiction filmmaking, Luo Li’s remarkable Rivers and My Father was inspired by stories from his father’s childhood. Li inventively structures sound, image and narration, evoking the ways in which memory operates.

In the 1990s, Chinese-Canadian artist Lloyd Wong began a video work about his living with HIV. It remained unfinished. Thirty years after his death, filmmaker Lesley Loksi Chan discovers and edits the material.

A woman and a man stroll through a zoo. They chat about God and the world in Serbian. They part, meet again, look at animals and other zoo visitors.

A modern adaptation of the Ming Dynasty novel Journey to the West (aka Monkey) in which Emperor Li Shimin suffers a short death.

As with everything in life, the same goes for East Lake, a threatened lake near the expanding mega city of Wuhan. You can get worked up about it and get involved - or you can think, it won’t affect me. Fortunately there’s the intriguing new film by Li Luo, which brings to an end these doubts. East Lake (Dong Hu) is a scenic area in the city of Wuhan, threatened by new amusement parks, high-rises and even an airport. ‘East Lake is getting smaller and smaller, but it's bigger and bigger in my memory,’ wrote a friend to the Canada-based Chinese filmmaker Li Luo as a result of the development. In a lucid way, the film investigates how the lake is linked to the people, leading to reflection on identity and survival in today’s China. The form is varied and free. Li uses documentary as well as fictional style elements, and often an ironic mixture of both. © iffr.com

The title refers to a pond in Wuhan, China that local anglers frequent, but where they can’t catch any fish. The film depicts several individuals’ strange behaviors in public spaces and their internal struggles.

A subtle combination of documentary and fiction filmmaking, Luo Li’s remarkable Rivers and My Father was inspired by stories from his father’s childhood. Li inventively structures sound, image and narration, evoking the ways in which memory operates.

A subtle combination of documentary and fiction filmmaking, Luo Li’s remarkable Rivers and My Father was inspired by stories from his father’s childhood. Li inventively structures sound, image and narration, evoking the ways in which memory operates.

In the 1990s, Chinese-Canadian artist Lloyd Wong began a video work about his living with HIV. It remained unfinished. Thirty years after his death, filmmaker Lesley Loksi Chan discovers and edits the material.

A woman and a man stroll through a zoo. They chat about God and the world in Serbian. They part, meet again, look at animals and other zoo visitors.

A woman and a man stroll through a zoo. They chat about God and the world in Serbian. They part, meet again, look at animals and other zoo visitors.