The Periphery of the Base
Asian Premiere
Zhou Tao China 2024 53 min NC16 (Some Coarse Language)
Employing documentary and defamiliarisation approaches, this film depicts workers on an immense structure in a harsh desert landscape.
In the punishing Gobi Desert in Xinjiang, workers toil on a gigantic infrastructure project, their conversations casually brutish yet philosophical. Known for his roving, precise camerawork, Zhou depicts the complex scales between the immensity of the landscape, the ambition of the manmade base and the vulnerability of its human subjects. The camera’s panning movements and changing exposures create shifts in perspective between details in the foreground and horizons in the distance.
As a sandstorm swirls and the workers depart, night appears to fall. The film becomes more abstract, with form, distortion, colour and contrast taking precedence over documentary narrative. This absorbing film suggests the multiple thresholds between natural and artificial worlds, and the uneasy complexity of their relationship in extreme conditions.
Please note this film will be screening as part of a Double Bill with The Spirit Level. The overall rating is NC16.
Q&A with Filmmaker(s)
7 Dec, Sat 4:00PM / 74 min
Filmgarde Kallang, Hall 2
AT THE FEST!
All screenings are on a free seating, first-come, first-served basis. We kindly ask all ticket holders to arrive on time to be guaranteed entry.
RUSH QUEUE:
For last-minute attendees, good news. Our Rush Queue is back this year!
The Periphery of the Base
基地之侧
Zhou Tao
China
2024
Mandarin
English
53 min
NC16 (Some Coarse Language)
Asian Premiere
Zhou Tao
Trained in oil painting and mixed media, moving image artist Zhou Tao often depicts the relationship between people and disparate landscapes in his films. His work has been shown at M+ Museum, Venice Biennale, Sharjah Biennale, Guggenheim Museum New York, as well as the Berlinale and Locarno. This film garnered the Short Film Award at the Cinéma du Réel.
Zhou Tao,
Zhang Wei
The Spirit Level & The Periphery of the Base
