Recently, David, a graduation project co-created by four students, Xue Kai, Hong Jiexi, Jiang Bilun, and Zeng Wen, from the 2020 class of Digital Media Arts (Digital Imaging and Network Video Track) at our school's School of Animation and Digital Arts, under the guidance of Professor Wang Fahua, has been selected for the 45th CIFF - Short Film Competition. The world premiere will take place at the Cairo Opera House.
Cairo International Film Festival, founded in 1976, stands as an esteemed A-category film festival by the Fédération Internationale des Associations de Producteurs de Films (FIAPF). It is renowned as the oldest film festival in the Arab world and African region and holds a unique position in the industry. Thanks to its special presence, it attracts more than 100 films from over 50 countries around the world each year. Since its inception, CIFF has made concerted efforts to contribute to the exchange of filmmakers between the Middle East, Africa, and the rest of the world.
In 2016, CIFF signed a strategic collaboration agreement with the Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) to actively promote the development of the international cultural industry under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Many Chinese filmmakers have been honored at CIFF, including Feng Xiaogang who was awarded Best Feature Film and Best Screenplay at the 24th CIFF, Zhang Yimou who received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 35th CIFF, and Jia Zhangke who garnered the Outstanding Achievement Award at the 38th CIFF, among others. Chinese films, such as The Road, Sigh, and Brave Father, have also won major awards at CIFF.
The film "David" portrays my memories and attachment to David, aroused by a long-forgotten childhood photo in a small town in Northeast China. Scenes from the year 2000 are assembled from fragmented and swirling childhood memories. When I was a kid, I sought refuge under David's protection, and we often ran along a sunflower-filled wheat field, chasing the roaring of the golden, old trains across the small town. Later, David became an orphan, and I was forcibly separated from him due to family changes. As I ventured out of the small town alone, experiencing loneliness, fatigue, and sorrow, I remembered the afternoon we picked apricots together. In a trance, "David" became my imaginary self.
This film uses memories as a medium and unfolds with an array of technical approaches such as paste-up, stop motion animation, cyanotype technique, live shot, and AI rendition, uncovering the "birthmarks" left by history on everyone.
The School of Animation and Digital Arts, Communication University of China upholds the three-in-one educational philosophy where humanities form the foundation, technology serves as the application, and art provides the method. In recent years, the school has consistently produced excellent works. These extraordinary achievements in prestigious international competitions fully demonstrate the remarkable results of the school's cultivation of all-rounded talents with professional skills, which are the joint efforts of the faculty and students. It also proves the synergy between our schooling philosophies and international cutting-edge education practices, and our continuous contributions to the development of the global animation and digital art industry.
(Editor: Wu Xinyan)
