Seeking You
Animated short film — 3mn17 — 2008
Le film auquel je suis le plus attaché, parce qu'il raconte ma vraie histoire : je suis tombé éperdument amoureux de Hong Kong. Cette ville me met à fleur de peau. Alcool, nuits blanches, clubs, chaleur étouffante. Premières amours, premières passions. J'ai voulu en faire un poème érotique, un hymne à la ville. Explorer Hong Kong comme on explore un corps et son odeur : jungle de flore et de béton, effluves enivrants et remugles du « port parfumé ». Les sens décuplés, j'y ai connu des solitudes immenses et des étreintes brèves. Je l'ai arpentée à pied, en bus, en taxi, en bateau, pendant des années. Elle m'a beaucoup donné, beaucoup pris, puis m'a jeté : on m'a refusé la résidence permanente, alors que j'étais le seul de ma famille à vouloir y rester. Comme un amant éconduit, je suis parti — sans jamais effacer son souvenir.
"Animation in his hands has more vitality than I had known — it became for me more 'Asian'. I believe a new visual experience will be shared, a new animated vocabulary will emerge."
— Christopher Doyle, cinematographer (In the Mood for Love, Chungking Express)
The film I'm most attached to, because it tells my true story: I fell desperately in love with Hong Kong. This city sets my skin on edge. Alcohol, sleepless nights, clubs, suffocating heat. First loves, first passions. I wanted to make an erotic poem out of it, a hymn to the city. To explore Hong Kong the way you explore a body and its scent: a jungle of flora and concrete, intoxicating fragrances and the stench of the "Fragrant Harbour". Senses heightened, I knew immense solitudes there, and brief embraces. I walked it, rode it — bus, taxi, ferry — for years. It gave me much, took much, then threw me out: I was denied permanent residency, though I was the only one in my family who wanted to stay. Like a spurned lover, I left — without ever erasing its memory.
Awards
Best Animation, Zuma Film Festival
Platinum Remi Awards, WorldFest Huston
Laureate, Young Directors Forum, Meribel
Best New Arrival, Rotterdam International Film Festival
Screenings
Finisterra Arrábida Film Art & Tourism Festival
Urban Film Festival, 104, Paris
The Veggie Table, Beijing
Kunsthaus Tacheles, Berlin, Germany
Cyber Sousa-Xiamen International Animation Festival
Culture Unplugged Festival, Spirit Enlightened and We speak here
Animafest Zagreb
Festival Int. du Film d'Environnement
Cancun Film Festival
China Cristal Awards, Dubai & Saõ Paulo
Cannes Film Festival, ShortfilmCorner, France
Le Cube, France
Folie-Ô-Skop, Québec
Moves09, Manchester, UK
Nemo, Forum des Images, Paris
Cinequest / Maverick, USA
Kan Film Festival, Poland
Breda International Film Festival, the Netherlands
Anima, Belgium
Future Film Festival, Italy
Slamdance, USA
Dailymotion, La Séance, France
Galerie Chappe, France
Animated Dreams - Tallin Black Nights Film Festival, Estonia
PISAF, South Korea
Take-2 International Student Film Festival, Ireland
Corona Cork Film Festival, Ireland
Passau Film festival, Germany
Contravision, Germany
Freedom Of Choice, Portugal / Turkey / Armenia / Italy
Mar del Plata, Argentina
Raindance Film Festival, UK
CICDAF, China
Montreal World Film Festival
onedotzero, UK
Broadcasting
RTP, Portugal
Culture TV
Transfera TV, Spain
Indieroad, USA
NoLife TV, France
Music: Carmen (Georges Bizet), Grace Chang (葛蘭)
Made in Hong Kong, 2008.
