Sparked by an accidental dusting on my camera lens during a trip through the Hexi Corridor—an integral part of the Silk Road linking northern China to Central Asia—this experimental essay film turns a simple mishap into a metaphor for our often illusory perceptions of the world, in resonance with this region’s rich cultural histories.
The film merges digital video, hand-altered 16mm film, and traditional Chinese shadow puppetry to probe the nuances of cultural memory, historical time, and the ways individuals inhabit them through layers of (re)interpretation inherent in acts of viewing and representing. The ambiguity of images and the opacity of language illuminate as much as they obscure. Employing a circular structure, alternating between languages and weaving recurring motifs throughout, the film offers a meditative journey that contemplates the enduring cycles of matter and life, the interconnectedness of all beings across time.
The Tears and the Sea
20 min, Sound
