Synopsis

Originally adapted from the Southeast Asian folktale The Mousedeer Crosses the River.The film not only presents an interpretation of the original story itself, but also regards the general principles and the morphology of folktales as a form of narrative container. The symbol of a mirror, which reflects identity, is used in the work as a metaphor for this narrative container. Like the fractured perspective of the fly’s compound eyes, the story’s motif leads the audience to travel back and forth through various interlinked narratives from different countries, discussing cultural flow, identity, and the connections between universal and local allegorical experiences.

Zhang Xu Zhan

Zhang Xu Zhan (1988) was born into a centurial ancestral paper-crafting family. The Hsin Hsin Paper Offering Store specializes in making paper sculptures for religious rituals or funerals. His works are full of bizarre, absurd grotesque image expansion, intent to discuss the society and contemporary survival experience, and expand cinema experience, contemporary art. Recently he won Deutsche Bank’s Artists of the Year award 2021 for the collection his animation and video art. His film Si So Mi (2019) won a special award in Animafest Zagreb.