Re/constructing Memories

This program presents a selection of recent experimental animation films by artists from mainland China and the Chinese diaspora. Centered on the theme of memory, these works showcase how artists use animation as a medium to explore memory’s dynamic nature—whether historical, collective, intermedial, or mechanical.

The feature screening highlights four works by Sun Xun, a renowned contemporary Chinese artist known for blending traditional techniques such as woodblock printing, ink painting, pigment powder, and oil painting with digital animation. His multidisciplinary practice blurs the boundaries between drawing, painting, and animation, crafting narratives that traverse time and culture. Influenced by his upbringing in northeast China after the Cultural Revolution, Sun’s labour-intensive moving-image creations form a “theatre of memory,” weaving together realism and fantasy to challenge conventional narratives of history, memory, and politics.

Films

Shocking Dreams in the Circus (2024)

Tears of Chiwen (2017)

Some Actions Which Haven't Been Defined Yet in the Revolution (2011）

21 Ke (2010)

The program also includes a selection of animated shorts by the emerging Chinese diaspora artist Lilan Yang, on March 14, 1-3 pm. Please click the event link at the bottom of this page and book your ticket.

Presented by the Department of East Asian Studies at the Unviersity of Toronto and Mulan International Film Festival

Info: The screening is followed by a group panel discussion with Shasha Liu, Sessional Lecturer at the University of Toronto and Philippe Blanchard, Associate Professor at OCAD U and Director of the Experimental Animation program.

Host or Publisher EAS2025