Art College 1994

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.