Light Pillar

寒夜灯柱

This amusingly deadpan portrait of loneliness, the death of cinema and technology’s seductive appeal combines animation and live action in visionary ways.

In a near future in which affordable space travel has sent the film industry into freefall, Zha is a humble caretaker at an unused studio lot in snowbound northern China, tending to the decaying ruins of past productions. When the studio can’t afford to pay his salary, he’s gifted a VR headset instead. Zha soon grows obsessed with the virtual realm, and the borders between reality and illusion begin to blur.

Moving between hand-drawn animation and digital live action in its VR sequences, Light Pillar offers a remarkably refreshing blend of romance, sci-fi and drama. Blessed with both a sense of Ghibli-esque whimsy and a cultural critique of modernisation-mad China that’s reminiscent of the works of Jia Zhang-ke, the film is at once an achingly sad portrait of loneliness, an epitaph for the glory days of cinema and a smart critique of people turning to technology to solve their problems. Enthusiastically received on its Berlin premiere, this low-key crowdpleaser is sure to charm MIFF audiences.

“Xu’s meditation on the appeal of the artificial is entirely heartfelt and genuinely affecting … By fusing poignant observation with poetic vision, Light Pillar exemplifies how Chinese filmmakers can harness animation as a portal to dreams.” – Screen Daily