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LIFE, AS A DREAM

Zhao Xu
China, 2021
20 min

Five workers are asleep. What are they dreaming of? Their voices recount memories of their dreams, yet they seem to be talking about their own daily lives. Suggestions of precarity and deep exhaustion creep in through lyrical, illusory moments.

What does the working class dream about? Zhao Xu assembles a lyrical collection of portraits that are as individual as they are universal, examining the anxieties caused by the modern labour market. His characters are a driver, a real estate agent, a cleaning lady, a construction worker, and a delivery man. Their dreams retell their lives during the day, always led at the limits of exhaustion, lives that often go unnoticed. In the calm of the night, like a gust of chilling air, the five workers’ meditative tone is broken only by the suggestion of their precarious working and living conditions. Much like its static, illusory shots, Life, as a Dream is dominated by an atmosphere of a perpetual in-betweenness. (Dora Leu)

Date and Location

27th of September, 21:00, Cinemateca Eforie

Tickets

Premii și festivaluri

Zhao Xu

Zhao Xu is a film director and visual artist, based in Beijing. His films have been selected by Visions du Réel, FIRST International Film Festival and West Lake International Documentary Film Festival. He has also screened his films in art institutions such as UCCA Centre for Contemporary Art, Power Station of Art and Three Shadows Xiamen Photography Art Centre. His filmography includes: Life, as a Dream (2021) and Shape of the World (2021).

  • Technical sheet
  • WITH: Yu Zhigang, Chen Weixing, Zhou Ying, Wang Qiang, Wei Jiaming
  • EDITOR/PRODUCER: Zhao Xu
  • CINEMATOGRAPHER: Yin Yong
  • TRANSLATOR: Shelly Kraicer
  • THANKS: Li Jia, Mu Lan Li Xia, Ma Mengjie, Shen Ruilan

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