Odyssey: a Chinese cinema season – 60+ films in 8 curated sections, 10 discussion panels, exclusive Q&As and 4 awards. A not-to-be-missed festival in the UK to celebrate international cinema!
Showcasing the diversity of Chinese aesthetics to British audiences, Odyssey focuses on contemporary Chinese film talent emerging on both the feature and short film scenes. Our short film programme “An Exploration” highlights the different genres, themes, and aesthetics of 21st-century Chinese cinema, ranging from atmospheric shorts to incisive documentaries. Taking a more avant-garde approach, The Galaxy: Artists’ Moving Image” is a must-watch experimental film programme spotlighting innovations in the moving image. Breaking the boundaries between film text and art creation, these pioneering shorts roam in their own artistic galaxy – and are all at the cutting-edge of Chinese experimental art cinema. “An Exploration” launches on our streaming service, Shift 72, on 10th May, while “The Galaxy” will be available on Shift 72 from 11th May.
“An Exploration” begins with a slice of contemporary Chinese sci-fi before delving into musical productions, inventive animations, and comedy-dramas about cross-cultural misunderstandings. The section features a schoolgirl with a genius IQ, a drummer who finds inspiration in an ancient bathhouse, and a hard of hearing boy desperate to pursue his dancing dreams. The directors deftly tackle serious social issues, including sex trafficking and the SARS outbreak, alongside subtle character studies. The abstract concepts that drive “The Galaxy” are no less exciting, as the creators channel questions of cognition and perception through images of war, blindness, and light itself. These selected moving images represent the thrilling point at which film and visual art meet, creating a groundbreaking medium for authorial expression.
An Exploration (29 films)
1. Double Helix
UK PREMIERE
Director: Sheng Qiu
Genre: Drama
Year of Production: 2021
Production Country: China
Duration: 26mins
Festivals & Awards:
The 24th Shanghai International Film Festival
The 48th Film Festival Gent – Best International Short Film Award
2021 China Science Fiction Convention – Best Science Fiction Short Film Immortality Award
Synopsis:
Will the awakening intelligence lead to destruction or rebirth?
2. The Cuckoos
Director: Marhaba Israyil
Genre: Drama
Year of Production: 2021
Production Country: China
Duration: 27 mins
Festivals & Awards:
The 15th FIRST International Film Festival nominated for the Best Short Fiction
2021 IM Cross Strait Film Festival Nomination
Synopsis:
In the woods, there are sounds made by the cuckoos everywhere, but Ekper is nowhere to be seen.
3. Strange
UK PREMIERE
Director: Ling Zhu
Genre: Fantasy/Musical
Year of Production: 2020
Production Country: USA
Duration: 15 mins
Festivals & Awards:
2021 International New York Film Festival – Best Picture
2021 International Independent Film Festival – Best Film
Synopsis:
To help Carrie overcome her social phobia, they step on a meaningful and fantasy journey about love and friendship.
4. Paper Airplane
UK PREMIERE
Director: Mingjie Tang
Genre: Drama
Year of Production: 2021
Production Country: USA
Duration: 20 mins
Festivals & Awards:
2021 Studio City Film Festival Official Selection
2021 Lift-Off Global Network Los Angeles Official Selection
2021 Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Awards – Winner
Synopsis:
A love story between a homeless musician and a self-abandoned school girl.
5. All the Crows in the World
Director: Yi Tang
Genre: Drama/Dark Comedy
Year of Production: 2021
Production Country: Hong Kong SAR of China
Duration: 14 mins
Festivals & Awards:
2021 Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or – Short Film Winner
2021 Fresh Wave International Short Film Festival – Best Screenplay, Best Director
Synopsis:
An 18-year-old school girl is invited to attend a mysterious dinner party that is full of greasy middle-aged men.
6. Hair Tie, Egg, Homework Books
UK PREMIERE
Director: Runxiao Luo
Genre: Drama
Year of Production: 2021
Production Country: China
Duration: 15 mins
Festivals & Awards:
The 78th Venezia, Mostra Internazionale d’Arte Cinematografica – Orizzonti Short Films Competition 2021
2021 Fabrique Du Cinéma Awards, Best International Short Film Award
Synopsis:
Yuqi is about to give a speech at her elementary school until she finds out a shared secret with a classmate.
7. Day is Done
UK PREMIERE
Director: Dalei Zhang
Genre: Drama
Year of Production: 2021
Production Country: China
Duration: 24 mins
Festivals & Awards:
71st Berlin International Film Festival – Silver Bear Award Jury Prize for Short Film
Synopsis:
Life in the grandfather’s small courtyard stretches out calmly, and the daily minutiae flow between the family members.
8. Together Apart
UK PREMIERE
Director: Youjia Qu
Genre: Drama
Year of Production: 2019
Production Country: China
Duration: 52 mins
Festivals & Awards:
2020 International Film Festival Rotterdam
2019 FIRST International Film Festival – Best Short Film
Synopsis:
It is getting late and the reunion and the parting are somehow merging to become the same occasion.
9. The Secret
UK PREMIERE
Director: Yige Meng
Genre: Drama
Year of Production: 2019
Production Country: China
Duration: 20 mins
Synopsis:
After Huang spends a long time knitting a special gift for Yu, Huang notices that Yu’s reaction is not so satisfying.
10. 200 Cigarettes from Now
UK PREMIERE
Director: Tianyu Ma
Genre: Drama/Comedy
Year of Production: 2020
Production Country: USA
Duration: 45 mins
Festivals & Awards:
2021 International Film Festival Rotterdam – Short & Mid-length Selection
2021 Women Make Waves International Film Festival
2021 San Diego Asian Film Festival – Asian American Panorama Section
2021 Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival
Synopsis:
Xia puts all her efforts to retain the summer while vainly looking for her disappeared crush.
11. Birth Permit
Director: Yu Zhang
Genre: Drama
Year of Production: 2017
Production Country: China
Duration: 17 mins
Festivals & Awards:
2017 Short Film Corner of Festival de Cannes
European Independent Film Festival – Short Film Competition
Rome Independent Prisma Awards – Short Film Competition
Synopsis:
The end of the ‘One-Child Policy’ is a solution for this couple but just the beginning of their problems.
12. Christmas
Director: Fengrui Zhang
Genre: Drama
Year of Production: 2021
Production Country: China/USA
Duration: 19 mins
Festivals & Awards:
2021 the International Short Film Competition at the Locarno Film Festival
Synopsis:
Under the double whammy of unforgiving reality and the glamorous ‘American Dream’, the fishing village boy chooses to disappear.
13. In the Dusk
UK PREMIERE
Director: Zhuolan
Genre: Drama
Year of Production: 2020
Production Country: China
Duration: 18 mins
Festivals & Awards:
2020 Golden Coconut Hainan Island International Film Festival
2021 Atlanta Film Festival
2021 Mongolia JingEr International Film Festival
Synopsis:
Deep in the grassland of Inner Mongolia, a white-haired granny is looking for a pony, the reincarnation of her late grandson.
14. The Thorn Birds
Director: Qiannan Fang / Yingying Pan / Jingxiong Zhang
Genre: Animation
Year of Production: 2020
Production Country: China
Duration: 9 mins
Festivals & Awards:
Berlin Short Film Festival – “China New Talents” Special Screening Section
KUKI Short Film Festival – CCAERM unit
The 20th Beijing Film Academy Animation Academy Award – “Best Sound Effect Award”
Synopsis:
There is one type of bird that spends its whole life searching for a thorn tree just to complete a great song.
15. Red Bean
Director: Yu Chen
Genre: Sci-Fi
Year of Production: 2020
Production Country: China
Duration: 10 mins
Festivals & Awards:
The 24th Shanghai International Film Festival Nominee
2021 Festival Cinema e Ambiente Avezzano – Best Short Film
2021 Venice Film Award – Best Sci-Fi
2021 London Climate Change Festival Nominee
Synopsis:
An individual who is suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder and forced to migrate to outer space.
16. Modern Babel
UK PREMIERE
Director: Lin Zhao
Genre: Animation
Year of Production: 2019
Production Country: China
Duration: 11 mins
Festivals & Awards:
2019 Feinaki Beijing Animation Week Nominee
2019 Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner Nominee
2019 Venice Biennale Finalist
Synopsis:
A housewife loses her mind when shopping, degenerates into an animal.
17. New Year’s Eve
UK PREMIERE
Director: Hao Zheng
Genre: Drama
Year of Production: 2018
Production Country: USA
Duration: 22 mins
Festivals & Awards:
The 16th Provinziale Filmfest Eberswalde – Short Film Jury Prize
2019 Peak City International Film Festival – Best Foreign Language Film
2019 Student Academy Awards – Semi-Finalist
Synopsis:
A life-time decision to be made for a 19-year-old, between Kung Fu school and college.
18. The First Grade
UK PREMIERE
Director: Chunsheng Lin
Genre: Documentary
Year of Production: 2021
Production Country: China
Duration: 30 mins
Festivals & Awards:
2021 Macau International Short Film Festival (Student) Nominee
Synopsis:
A family of medical practitioners face new challenges after the outbreak of the pandemic.
19. Marriage On the Border
UK PREMIERE
Director: Weibin Lin
Genre: Drama
Year of Production: 2021
Production Country: China
Duration: 36 mins
Festivals & Awards:
2021 the 20th International Student Film and Video Festival (ISFVF) of Beijing Film Academy – Best Picture
Synopsis:
While everything seems to be going well, a clandestine conspiracy is working against her dreams of a bright future.
20. Twilight Zone
UK PREMIERE
Director: Qingxuan Zhong
Genre: Documentary
Year of Production: 2020
Production Country: China
Duration: 39 mins
Festivals & Awards:
2020 Beijing International Short Film Festival – Best Film
The 4th West Lake Youth Documentary Forum – Best Documentary
Synopsis:
Will she choose to gamble on love, or will she start a new life – free?
21. An Excessive Day
UK PREMIERE
Director: Danyang Zhao
Genre: Drama
Year of Production: 2021
Production Country: China / Korea
Duration: 26 mins
Festivals & Awards:
1st Minute International Short Film Festival – Eye Fiction Short Film
Synopsis:
A story that consoles the broken hearts of those living in a foreign land.
22. A Gentle Night
Director: Yang Qiu
Genre: Drama
Year of Production: 2017
Production Country: China
Duration: 15 mins
Festivals & Awards:
2017 Festival de Cannes Short Film Competition Winner: Palme d’Orr
Synopsis:
In a nameless Chinese city, a mother whose daughter has gone missing refuses to go gently into that good night.
23. Spring Fever
Director: Ziyu Wang
Genre: Animation
Year of Production: 2018
Production Country: China
Duration: 7 mins
Festivals & Awards:
2020 Stars of Students of International Animation Festival – Hiroshima
Synopsis:
In her dream, she experiences an incredible journey – but what happens when she wakes up?
24. The Speech
UK PREMIERE
Director: Haohao Yan
Genre: Drama
Year of Production: 2020
Production Country: USA
Duration: 25 mins
Festivals & Awards:
The 68th San Sebastian International Film Festival – Special Mention of the Jury
2020 Rhode Island International Film Festival – Filmmaker of the Future Award
Synopsis:
During the lockdown, three eight-year-old girls inside a private boarding school struggle to make sense of the world.
25. Mountain
UK PREMIERE
Director: Yuwei Du
Genre: Drama
Year of Production: 2021
Production Country: China
Duration: 20 mins
Festivals & Awards:
Hollywood Independent Filmmaker Awards and Festival – Student Film 2021 – Bronze Award
5th Hollywood International Diversity Film Festival – Best Director
Synopsis:
In a mysterious village, the special ceremony gradually pushes a young girl into the abyss.
26. Handscape
Director: Yiru Chen
Genre: Drama
Year of Production: 2020
Production Country: China
Duration: 19 mins
Festivals & Awards:
2021 Queer East Film Festival – Shorts: Provocations
2020 Shanghai Pride Film Festival
Synopsis:
A Shanghainese hard of hearing boy attempts to overcome his identity crisis through contemporary dance and sign language.
27. Bathhouse Drummer
UK PREMIERE
Director: Kaiqi Liu
Genre: Drama
Year of Production: 2019
Production Country: China
Duration: 17 mins
Festivals & Awards:
European Independent Film Festival Nominee & Best Editing
Milan International Filmmaker Festival Nominee
Macau International Movie Festival – Best Short Film, Best Director
Synopsis:
A Japanese drummer comes to Beijing for a performance where he finds himself lacking inspiration, until he meets Fushun, the bathhouse master.
28. Kid
Director: Yang Yu
Genre: Animation
Year of Production: 2021
Production Country: China
Duration: 6 mins
Festivals & Awards:
2021 Los Angeles Animation Festival – Best International Student Animation
2021 Beijing Film Academy Animation Academy Award – Outstanding Short Film
2022 Dingle Animation Festival – Ireland Shortlisted
Synopsis:
A mysterious family story involving a new child’s arrival.
29. Please Do Not Tell Her
UK PREMIERE
Director: Yunxia Wang
Genre: Drama
Year of Production: 2021
Production Country: China
Duration: 6 mins
Festivals & Awards:
The 15th FIRST International Film Festival Official Selection
Female Feedback Film Festival Official Selection
Synopsis:
Huihui, a genius girl whose IQ is only one point below Stephen Hawking’s, disappears after she is accepted by the best university.
The Galaxy: Artists’ Moving Image (5 films)
1. Awake
UK PREMIERE
Director: Vic Guan
Genre: Experimental
Year of Production: 2020
Production Country: China
Duration: 3 mins
Festivals & Awards:
The 24th Shanghai International Film Festival – Short Film Jury Award
Canada Best Short Festival – Best Short Film Nominee
The 3rd Meihodo International Youth Visual Media Festival
Synopsis:
In an absurd world, there is an insurmountable bridge between people, a girl and a boy, “together”.
2. Catching Light
Director: Tianhao Xu
Genre: Animation
Year of Production: 2016
Production Country: UK
Duration: 4 mins
Synopsis:
The story follows a girl who, in trying to capture the fleeting image of light, comes to question the reality of her perceptions, volitions, and desires.
3. The Honor Among Thieves
UK PREMIERE
Director: Lanhua Ma
Genre: Experimental
Year of Production: 2019
Production Country: China
Duration: 50 mins
Festivals & Awards:
The 13th FIRST International Film Festival Best Experimental Film – Jury Award
The 48th International Film Festival Rotterdam – Award of Excellence
Synopsis:
The story revolves around four thieves in the Song Dynasty who are up against a wealthy evil miser and the corrupt government.
4. 56-75 Decibel
UK PREMIERE
Director: Yujue Liang
Genre: Experimental
Year of Production: 2021
Production Country: China
Duration: 4 mins
Synopsis:
Acoustic Vehicle Alert System (AVAS) is a sound device now commonly installed in alternative fuel vehicles.
5. War Story
UK PREMIERE
Director: Yujue Liang
Genre: Experimental
Year of Production: 2020
Production Country: China
Duration: 6 mins
Synopsis:
Until the end of the war, not even one gunshot wound could be found on me physically.
About Odyssey
Odyssey aims to empower a shared appreciation of film, to create an inclusive cinematic experience, and to encourage cross-cultural understanding. From 10th May to 10th June 2022, with more than 40 films in 8 curated sections, 10 panel discussions and many inspiring Q&A sessions, we will bring you a whole month of outstanding and innovative Chinese cinema that promises to illuminate your mind. The festival will not only introduce the latest young Chinese film talents to the UK audience, but also provide forums for professionals to exchange creativity and business ideas.
Odyssey will take place in a hybrid format in 2022. The opening film screening will be hosted in person by our venue partner, the Picturehouse Cinemas, in London and Edinburgh on 10th May with a reception. Most of the programme will be available online for all audiences across the country, and we will also organise several pop-up special cinema screenings throughout. The online festival platform of Odyssey will be powered by Shift 72.
ODYSSEY’S HEADLINE SPONSOR
Who is our Headline Sponsor this year? – Your most reliable renting company in London!
Azad Ayub Limited is a multi-national award-winning property management and development company, founded by investor, entrepreneur and philanthropist Azad Ayub who has a background in international civil engineering. The company owns and manages properties in North London and has been providing high-quality houses to its clients for over 30 years. Recently the company’s portfolio has expanded to Spain, Pakistan and the USA.
Apart from his property business, Azad has been generously giving back to society as a reputable philanthropist. He is a keen supporter of some of the most prestigious charities in the UK, including Able Child Africa, Lord Mayor’s Appeal Charity, Television for the Environment (Trustee), Royal Institute (Patron) and many more.
We would like to thank Mr Azad Ayub for his generous support toward our Odyssey journey.
Related Information
Keep yourself updated with our upcoming exciting programme announcements by following our social media accounts!
Festival Date: 10th May – 10th June 2022
Format: Offline in London, Edinburgh, and Online via Shift 72
Presented by UK-China Film Collab
Festival Website: odysseychinesecinema.uk
Festival Instagram & Twitter: odysseyccs
For Press Enquiry Please Contact
Liao Zhang
Lead of Public Relations
Email: liao.zhang@ukchinafilm.uk
WeChat: LZ_Gloria
