In development for over a decade, this mind-blowing animated feature surpasses any toon China has produced to date in terms of sheer beauty and imagery – a procession of enormous whales swim through the skies, a tentacled creature ferries a girl across a sea of clouds, feline porters walk on their hind legs – while weaving a surreal and complex tale informed by Chinese myths and motifs. In a hidden world within our world, celestial beings are in charge of the tide and the changing of the seasons. One of these beings, a young girl named Chun, transforms into a dolphin as part of a coming-of-age ritual and enters the human world she has always longed to explore. When she falls into danger, a human boy named Kun saves her life, but gives up his own in the process. With the help of her childhood friend Qiu, Chun tries to revive Kun’s spirit in order to thank him for saving her.
Film also selected as feature film in competition at Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2017
WORLD PREMIERE (English Language Version)
In English
Xuan Liang & Chun Zhang, China, 2016, 105 min
Recommended ages 8 to adult