Sparked by an accidental dusting on my camera lens during a trip through the Hexi Corridor—an integral part of the Silk Road linking northern China to Central Asia—this experimental travel film turns a simple mishap into a metaphor for our often illusory perceptions of the world, in resonance with this region’s rich histories of cultural encounters.
The film merges digital video, hand-altered 16mm film, and traditional Chinese shadow puppetry to probe the nuances of culture, memory, time, and space through layers of (re)interpretation inherent in the acts of viewing and representing. The ambiguity of images and the opacity of language illuminate as much as they obscure. Employing a circular narrative and recurring motifs, the film offers a meditative journey that contemplates the enduring cycles of matter and life, the interconnectedness of all beings and of all times.
Of Dust and the Sea
20 min, Sound
