Chinese artist and filmmaker Sun Xun never expected 'Magic Atlas' to become the first animated feature chosen for the Tokyo International Film Festival's competition. He told Variety that he had not thought of it strictly as an animated film, describing animation as the label used for a work that brings together several art forms. He said he was glad TIFF understood the effort behind it.
The film, which took a decade to make, is set in Luocha, a coal-mining empire where flying is banned. A festival held every 60 years leaves residents unable to recall the preceding era. After a magician is arrested, he meets an orphan boy in prison and gives him the Magic Atlas, a book that leads the boy toward a suppressed past the empire has tried to erase.
Visually, 'Magic Atlas' moves among woodblock prints, ink painting and vivid color. Its images often carry narrative weight that a conventional plot might spell out, drawing on art and visual traditions from different periods and cultures.
Sun said global events including the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine shaped the film, as did personal changes such as his conversion to Buddhism. He put all his savings into the project. When galleries closed during the pandemic and his art sales dried up, he said he had to find buyers himself and take out loans to keep production going.
In his view, every creator should have one 'all-in' moment, a defining work that takes everything out of them. He called 'Magic Atlas' that moment for himself. He hoped to finish it before his child grew up and while his parents were alive, but his father died a year before the film was completed.
Rather than comment on a single event, Sun drew on different cultural and political influences to reflect divisions he sees in the world. He also incorporated images of ancient civilizations, including the pyramids, alongside mythological elements. He said film cannot address reality directly but can take a wider view and express how people understand the world and what they are curious about.
Asked whether films need to explain their stories clearly, Sun said he is against 'story' in the sense of emphasizing narrative for packaging and commercial purposes. He argued that film as an art form should express a state of being. He named Andrei Tarkovsky, citing 1983's 'Nostalghia,' and the late Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr as filmmakers he admires, saying they are sincere in how they approach existence and do not rely only on imagined narratives.
While making 'Magic Atlas,' Sun studied Dunhuang murals, Song dynasty painting and calligraphy, and imagery from other cultures. He acknowledged there will always be a barrier to entry and said a decade of work naturally gives the film depth. He said he made the work for himself, with the goal of realizing it rather than pleasing every viewer.
Exhibitions connected to 'Magic Atlas' are planned in the U.S. and Singapore, though venues and dates have not been announced. Sun has also started a new feature called 'All or Nothing,' whose Mandarin title 'Fuyou' means 'Mayfly.' It will continue the world of 'Magic Atlas,' shifting from the broad theme of forgetting to an individual experience of memory loss. He filmed the first shot at an exhibition space in Hangzhou and hopes to finish the feature within two years.
Sources: Variety.