Fa xian zhi lü

Shi’s flatmate Gao has vanished. Burnt out from his job as a video game designer, Shi only notices when Gao fails to pay the rent or reply to his girlfriend’s messages in the online game he spends most evenings playing. The search for his friend begins in that virtual space, moves back into reality and takes constant twists that gradually blur the boundaries between the two. An electric thriller rooted in the digital age, Dong Jie’s debut takes its visual cues from video games. Sequences often unfold like cutscenes: impossible camera angles and lighting, ambient music and soft, frequent camera movements that seem aimed at adding a feeling of motion to the image rather than developing it narratively. The ever present phones, messaging and social media also inject a sense of vertigo into the film’s style. Much of Shi’s investigation happens online, whether inside the game or different apps, and is guided by uninterrupted WeChat exchanges. FA XIAN ZHI LÜ is a film that reclaims the virtual world as a space where connection, forgiveness and even utopia are possible. Whereas most recent films on how the virtual invades our daily lives see this trend negatively, FA XIAN ZHI LÜ intelligently reconsiders the possibilities it holds. (Salvador Amores)

In the presence of Dong Jie and Cao Shanshan (producer).

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Dong Jie: BREAK (2019), BEIJING MUSHROOM (2024, K)