Light Pillar

There isn’t much going on anymore at the Old New East West film studios, which, with its monumental, snow-covered replicas—from the Sphinx of Giza to the Forbidden City—resembles an enchanted ghost town. Yet cherished rituals like the morning staff roll call and some cleaning duties are still upheld, because a little order is a must! And so caretaker Zha’s days pass uneventfully until the studio boss, short on cash, hands him a VR headset instead of his meager wages: a new world opens up for Zha; he travels through foreign landscapes and meets another player with whom he soon develops romantic feelings. She eventually invites him on a joint trip to the moon. But just as he’s about to set off, he learns that his ticket is invalid. Suddenly, a film crew appears on the scene, wanting to rent the studio for a sci-fi disaster movie…

With his first feature film, Light Pillar, director Xu Zao has created a cinematic masterpiece; the sophisticated blend of animation and live-action transports us into an enchanting dream world of another dimension. In the end, we float through space alongside janitor Zha and dream ourselves into the here and now—exactly what we’ve always longed for.