HUANG Pang-chuan
Two journeys take place in two different periods. One is a return by rail, passing through two continents. The other is an old family photograph tracing wartime life. The rhythmic swaying of the train merges the past and the present and reveals a forgotten memory, which has been covered by dust for a long time.
The task of tracking old memories entails fumbling through a confusing mixture of past and present, truth and doubts, and dreams and fantasies. The journey follows the long trajectory of the railway in search of the beginning of the mystery. The film connects two trips undertaken over a time gap of 70 years. They are neither completely identical nor unrelated. The film¡¯s journey begins in Tourcoing in northern France, traveling across Europe and continues on to Siberia and Mongolia. During this long journey, the director recalls memories related to an old photograph. The photograph at the beginning of the journey seems faint as if it was the director¡¯s own secret story or an old memory. However, as the journey draws to a close, the photograph becomes clearer and reveals itself entirely. The family that had been separated in order to survive the war was not reunited afterwards. The photograph had to be kept buried in their hearts for 40 years. Later, the old photograph of his grandfather found with a letter leads the director to embark upon a long journey to a faraway land. [LIM Seaeun]
HUANG Pang-chuan
Return (2017)
Le Fresnoy 33 320 283 864 / ntrebik@lefresnoy.net