Li Hongqi

More than twenty years ago, Dazhang along with his three brothers came to Guangdong to work in a local quartz powder factory. However, a few years later, Dazhang was diagnosed with advanced staged pneumoconiosis. Returning to his hometown, the pneumoconiosis was gradually killing him every single day. The entire family was stuck in this seemingly endless suffering, while his children were still confused about what happened to their father.

More than twenty years ago, Dazhang along with his three brothers came to Guangdong to work in a local quartz powder factory. However, a few years later, Dazhang was diagnosed with advanced staged pneumoconiosis. Returning to his hometown, the pneumoconiosis was gradually killing him every single day. The entire family was stuck in this seemingly endless suffering, while his children were still confused about what happened to their father.

이 ‘영화’는 히스테리적이면서도 동시에 놀라울 정도로 고요하다. 배우들은 ‘실제 사람’이지만 영화는 사실 ‘애니메이션’이다. 동시에 서로를 끌어당기는 무한한 확대와 축소의 두 힘으로부터 ‘무대’가 생겨난다. 여덟 개의 ‘꼭두각시’가 ‘무대’ 위로 끌려 나온다. 끈이 부서진 두 ‘꼭두각시’가 나타났다 사라진다. 이들은 서로 머리를 잡아당기고 무대에서 탈출하고자 한다. 시도는 성공하지 못한다. 해소되지 않는 좌절감 때문에 ‘무대’에서 도망치고 싶은 충동이 더욱 강해진다. 또 이 영화는 안경을 쓰지 않고도 3D나 VR 영화를 보는 듯한 느낌을 준다. 태어날 때부터 쓰고 있던 ‘안경’을 벗으면 ‘당신’은 이 ‘세계’에서 무언가를 ‘발견’할 수 있을 것이다. (제22회 전주 영화제)

이 ‘영화’는 히스테리적이면서도 동시에 놀라울 정도로 고요하다. 배우들은 ‘실제 사람’이지만 영화는 사실 ‘애니메이션’이다. 동시에 서로를 끌어당기는 무한한 확대와 축소의 두 힘으로부터 ‘무대’가 생겨난다. 여덟 개의 ‘꼭두각시’가 ‘무대’ 위로 끌려 나온다. 끈이 부서진 두 ‘꼭두각시’가 나타났다 사라진다. 이들은 서로 머리를 잡아당기고 무대에서 탈출하고자 한다. 시도는 성공하지 못한다. 해소되지 않는 좌절감 때문에 ‘무대’에서 도망치고 싶은 충동이 더욱 강해진다. 또 이 영화는 안경을 쓰지 않고도 3D나 VR 영화를 보는 듯한 느낌을 준다. 태어날 때부터 쓰고 있던 ‘안경’을 벗으면 ‘당신’은 이 ‘세계’에서 무언가를 ‘발견’할 수 있을 것이다. (제22회 전주 영화제)

이 ‘영화’는 히스테리적이면서도 동시에 놀라울 정도로 고요하다. 배우들은 ‘실제 사람’이지만 영화는 사실 ‘애니메이션’이다. 동시에 서로를 끌어당기는 무한한 확대와 축소의 두 힘으로부터 ‘무대’가 생겨난다. 여덟 개의 ‘꼭두각시’가 ‘무대’ 위로 끌려 나온다. 끈이 부서진 두 ‘꼭두각시’가 나타났다 사라진다. 이들은 서로 머리를 잡아당기고 무대에서 탈출하고자 한다. 시도는 성공하지 못한다. 해소되지 않는 좌절감 때문에 ‘무대’에서 도망치고 싶은 충동이 더욱 강해진다. 또 이 영화는 안경을 쓰지 않고도 3D나 VR 영화를 보는 듯한 느낌을 준다. 태어날 때부터 쓰고 있던 ‘안경’을 벗으면 ‘당신’은 이 ‘세계’에서 무언가를 ‘발견’할 수 있을 것이다. (제22회 전주 영화제)

INNER EAR INFLAMMATION can be regarded as the answer to the title of my first music documentary, ARE WE REALLY SO FAR FROM THE MADHOUSE? Both films were shot on the spur of the moment; the difference between the two is that ARE WE REALLY SO FAR FROM THE MADHOUSE? was made specifically for Yang Haisong, whose music I had regrettably never used even though he had suggested it many times, while INNER EAR INFLAMMATION is 100% ruthless contraband. The shooting and production were completed in a very short period of time, but this doesn't mean it was sloppily done. In fact, INNER EAR INFLAMMATION is by far the least regrettable of all of my works to date, including the feature films. -Li Hongqi

While in the process of making this documentary, I intended to use the words of Alexander Grothendieck—"Every one of us has the chance to rediscover exactly what it means to discover"—as the epigraph, but I finally gave it up. I don't feel like I understand the precise meaning of this sentence, but I've always been eager to understand it. -Li Hongqi

Loan sharks and female nightclub workers.

Ostensibly a documentary or a music video chronicling influential post-punk Chinese group P.K. 14’s first national tour, Li Hongqi’s latest provocation becomes a rumination on existential ennui that takes place on endless highways as band members sit in their tour bus and anonymous hotels.

An ordinary village in Northern China, the last day of the winter vacation. Four idle, aimless adolescents gather at Zhou Zhixin's home, a friend who lives with his father, brother and nephew. Like most contemporary teenagers, these youths want to enjoy their last day of holiday and simply hang out in this place where nothing ever seems likely to happen. Their conversations are desultory and they sometimes seem to argue for argument's sake. One of them, Laowu, talks frankly with his girlfriend about how teenage love might affect their studies, while Laobao questions school's value and relevance to real life.

An ordinary village in Northern China, the last day of the winter vacation. Four idle, aimless adolescents gather at Zhou Zhixin's home, a friend who lives with his father, brother and nephew. Like most contemporary teenagers, these youths want to enjoy their last day of holiday and simply hang out in this place where nothing ever seems likely to happen. Their conversations are desultory and they sometimes seem to argue for argument's sake. One of them, Laowu, talks frankly with his girlfriend about how teenage love might affect their studies, while Laobao questions school's value and relevance to real life.

A father takes his son to observe an empty field, and then to visit a neighbour, who is soon visited by other reticent characters, including a man who is a little violent, and another next-door neighbour who has fallen ill.

This deadpan experiment in "anti-narrative" functions as the husk of a story about a man named He, his acquaintance and lodger, Mao, and a woman named Zheng, the three of whom are involved in what may or may not be a love triangle.