Sun Xun Spends Decade On Tokyo Selection

Chinese filmmaker Sun Xun secured a place for his animated feature, Magic Atlas, in the competition section of the Tokyo International Film Festival. The selection marks the first time an animated title has entered that specific category at the event. Sun described the achievement as a validation of the diverse artistic methods employed in the production.

The film took ten years to complete. It is set in Luocha, a coal-mining society where flight is prohibited. A recurring festival wipes the population's memory of the previous era every sixty years. After a magician is arrested, he passes a magical book to an orphan boy. The text guides the boy toward a history the empire attempted to erase. Visual styles in the movie shift between woodblock prints, ink painting, and vivid color.

Sun invested all his personal savings into the project. During the pandemic, gallery closures stopped his art sales. He secured loans and sought buyers directly to fund the work. He also underwent a personal conversion to Buddhism while production continued. Global events, including the war in Ukraine, influenced the creative direction. Sun noted that his father died one year before the film was finished. He had hoped to complete the project before his child grew up and while his parents were still alive.

The filmmaker cited Andrei Tarkovsky and Béla Tarr as key influences. He admired their sincere approach to existence and their refusal to rely solely on imagined narratives. Sun stated that he objects to films that prioritize story for commercial packaging. He believes cinema should express a state of being rather than just plot points. He studied Dunhuang murals and Song dynasty painting during the production.

Sun acknowledged that the film presents a barrier to entry for some viewers. He stated that ten years of work naturally creates depth. His primary goal was to realize the work for himself rather than to please every audience member. He said the film reflects divisions he sees around the world by mixing images of ancient civilizations with mythological elements.

Exhibitions related to Magic Atlas are planned for the United States and Singapore. Specific venues and dates have not been announced. Sun has also started a new feature titled All or Nothing. The Mandarin title is Fuyou, which means Mayfly. This new project continues the world established in the first film. It shifts the focus from broad themes of forgetting to an individual experience of memory loss. Sun filmed the first shot in Hangzhou and aims to finish the new feature within two years.