Eternal Spring tells a difficult story to convey: some Falun Gong members hijacked broadcast television stations in Changchun in March 2002. The members played a Falun Gong video about how they weren't as horrible as the Chinese government portrayed them to be.
There were tremendous repercussions to those involved in the hijacking. Chinese artist Daxiong, who wasn't involved in the hijackings, feared for his safety and life, escaping ultimately to Canada.
Jason Loftus, writer/director of Eternal Spring, incorporates Daxiong's art to tell the story.
The chase scenes where people try to escape early in the film are captivating and frightening. We forget sometimes that the vigilence of police in a closed society is much sharper than police in a democracy. Daxiong reminds us of this with his art.
We learn what Falun Gong is really about. We met the cast of primary characters. How they planned the hijackings. The surprise is that the explanation of the technology is relatively simple.
Then we learn about those who were captured and how much they suffered. There are moments with the few survivors that aren't animated.
Eternal Spring gets the nod from Canada for Best International Feature Film
The obvious correlation is Flee, the Denmark film in last year's Oscars race where the film was the first nominated in these 3 categories: Best International Feature Film, Best Documentary Feature, and Best Animated Feature. We realise that this project took long enough that neither film knew the other existed.
The story of Amin Nawabi (alias) as he makes his way from his home country of Afghanistan to Denmark is extremely compelling. The drawback for Eternal Spring is that the story is interesting but doesn't have the draw of a compelling protagonist. The film is more of a history lesson, a very well-drawn history lesson.
Falun Gong is a turn-off for some people, which is true in part because of the pressure put on the world by China.
This doesn't take away from the merits of the film. This is about the pressure of being Canada's entry into the Oscars for Best International Feature Film. The film is also eligible for the Best Documentary Feature and Best Animated Feature categories.
There was a hijacker of 2 TV signals in Chicago in 1987. The Max Headroom parody was a bit odd. The compelling element of that story is that the hijacker never got caught. Was intriguing to see how the Falun Gong people were captured so quickly.
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Eternal Spring is a very interesting watch. Loftus and Daxiong bring a lot of humanity to the story without being over dramatic. Daxiong's memories of Changchun are found in the drawings of his former home. Changchun, in northeast China, is not a part of the country usually shown in films.
We often talk about Canadian stories in films. Daxiong is able to tell this story because of being able to get out of China and into Canada.
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Loftus is also the co-creator, executive producer, and writer for Confucius Was a Foodie, available on many PBS stations.
Eternal Spring did really well at the 2022 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival. The film won the Hot Docs Audience Award for the most popular film in the festival and the Rogers Audience Award for the most popular Canadian film.
The film has already had theatre runs in Canada and the United States.
Eternal Spring is Canada's submission for the Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards. We will know on December 21 as to whether the film has made the shortlist for the Oscars.
photo credit: Eternal Spring
video credit: YouTube/Elements of Madness
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