art college 1994

China • 2023

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The latest work from animator Liu Jian (Have A Nice Day, Piercing)...

1990s, China. A motley gang of Chinese art students fill their languid days with inchoate musings about aesthetics, philosophy and the promised ‘good’ life after graduation. A portrait of youth, the students live in full swing as they take their first steps into adulthood, where love and friendships are intertwined with artistic pursuits, ideals and ambitions. Caught between tradition and modernity, they now have to choose who they want to become.

Amidst idle moments and flashes of artistic inspiration, Xiaojun (voiced by Dong Zijian) epitomises the quintessential romantic, fashioning himself in the image of grunge idol Kurt Cobain. His partner-in-crime, Rabbit (Chizi), provides a stabilizing anchor with his unfiltered wit, grounding their collective aspirations.

With a strikingly distinctive animation style, heightened by the resonant voiceovers of Bi Gan and Jia Zhangke, the film serves as a captivating lens through which we glimpse the inherent contradictions in a country presciently anticipating the imminent turn of the globalized millennium.

Liu Jian
Liu Jian, Lin Shan
Dong Zijian, Chizi, Zhou Dongyu, Jia Zhangke, and Bi Gan

Director
Writer
Starring

118 minutes
Mandarin Chinese, English
English
Color
2.35:1
5.1

Runtime
Language
Subtitles
Color
Format
Sound

  • "A wistful slice of comic-sad social realism somewhere in the region of Eric Rohmer wistful romances, Richard Linklater ensemble stories, and Sixth Generation semi-underground Chinese filmmakers like Jia Zhangke....feels like a lost graphic novel you find in a dive bar and love until the pages fall apart."

    Leslie Felperin

    The Hollywood Reporter

  • "The sharp-toothed yet loose-limbed Art College 1994 animates an important juncture in Chinese art history. A fond capsule of a time when the modern Chinese art world was playing host to a growing generational divide. Liu Jian attains a perfect balance of humour, thoughtfulness and heart."

    Travis Jeppesen

    Site & Sound

  • "A postcard from China during the 1990s. It evokes a specific time and a place so vividly that you can almost taste the stale cigarette smoke and cheap beer."

    Wendy Ide

    Screen Daily

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