Sun Xun's 'Magic Atlas' Becomes First Animated Film in Tokyo Competition

Sun Xun's 'Magic Atlas' has secured a historic spot as the first animated feature selected for the competition at the Tokyo International Film Festival. The selection marks a major milestone for the Chinese artist and filmmaker, who spent ten years developing the project. Xun described the selection as a moment of validation for a work that blends multiple artistic traditions into a single cinematic form.

The film is set in Luocha, a coal-mining empire where the act of flying is strictly forbidden. Every sixty years, a festival renders the population unable to remember the era that preceded it. The narrative centers on a magician who is arrested and meets an orphan boy in prison. The magician gives the boy a book called the Magic Atlas, which directs him toward a past that the empire has attempted to erase.

Visually, the production shifts between woodblock prints, ink painting, and vivid color. Xun stated that the images often perform the narrative function that a conventional plot might otherwise handle. He drew on art and visual traditions from various periods and cultures to create the film's aesthetic.

The production process was shaped by global events, including the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, as well as Xun's personal conversion to Buddhism. He invested all of his savings into the project. When galleries shut down during the pandemic, his art sales stopped. He had to find buyers independently and take out loans to keep the film production moving.

Xun characterized the project as his 'all-in moment,' a defining work that required total personal investment. He hoped to finish the film before his child grew up and while his parents were still alive. His father passed away one year before the film was completed. Xun also cited ancient civilizations, including the pyramids, and mythological elements as influences on the film's imagery.

Regarding the film's structure, Xun expressed a preference for cinema that expresses a state of being rather than prioritizing story for commercial packaging. He named Andrei Tarkovsky and Béla Tarr as filmmakers he admires for their sincere approach to existence. He studied Dunhuang murals, Song dynasty painting, and calligraphy while working on the project.

Xun acknowledged that there is a barrier to entry for viewers. He stated that ten years of work naturally gives the film depth. His goal was to realize the work for himself rather than to please every viewer. Exhibitions connected to 'Magic Atlas' are planned for the United States and Singapore, though specific venues and dates have not been announced.

The director has also begun work on a new feature titled 'All or Nothing,' with the Mandarin title 'Fuyou' meaning 'Mayfly.' This upcoming film will continue the world established in 'Magic Atlas,' shifting the focus from the broad theme of forgetting to an individual experience of memory loss. Xun filmed the first shot at an exhibition space in Hangzhou and aims to finish the feature within two years.