Laí Huí (Back & Forth) – Recording the Field Along the New Silk Road
Date:
December 15, 2022
Laí Huí (Back & Forth)
Laí Huí (Back & Forth)
by Antoine Prum
Paul Thiltges Distributions | Luxembourg
Kurhaus Production | Germany
Natura Film | Georgia
MicroFILM | Romania
Documentary
*the access to our meeting platform and director’s previous works will start from January 10, 2025
Logline
A group of Chinese underground artists travels along the controversial New Silk Road with the intention of carrying out an artistic audit of China’s geopolitical ambitions.
Synopsis
As China’s controversial Belt and Road Initiative is celebrating its tenth anniversary, a group of Chinese underground artists led by the poet and musician Yan Jun travels along the New Silk Road with the intention of carrying out an artistic audit of their country’s geopolitical ambitions.
Along the track, which leads from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, to the small Luxembourgish town of Bettembourg and its freight hub, the impromptu collective adopts the Situationist practice of the dérive to engage in a series of largely improvised encounters on and off the train.
The film will take the form of a poetic inventory of a world in transition, caught up in the whirlwind of a gigantic infrastructure project that claims to be ‘harmonious and inclusive’.
Director’s Profile
Antoine Prum
Filmmaker, Music Producer
Born 1963, Luxembourg | Based in Berlin
Antoine Prum is a trained visual artist and filmmaker who has been active in documentary film production since 2005. Representing Luxembourg at the 51st Venice Biennale, Prum later established Ni-Vu-Ni-Connu Productions, an independent film company and record label specializing in alternative musics. His work critically explores the legacy of free improvised music, with a trilogy of acclaimed documentaries: Sunny’s Time Now (2008), Taking the Dog for a Walk (2014), and Blue for a Moment (2017).
Company Profile
Paul Thiltges Distributions (PTD) is a Luxembourg based film production and world sales company founded in 1993 by Paul Thiltges and jointly run with Adrien Chef. Collaborating with a large range of international partners, the PTD team has built up a considerable network, allowing it to initiate projects or participate in ventures on a worldwide scale as producer, co-producer or sales agent.
The companyʼs film catalogue reflects the diversity of its professional network by including socially impactful documentaries and fiction such as works by Michael Glawogger, Hicham Lasri or Ari Folman, while simultaneously working on fiction film projects with Frederic Jardin or Sylvie Testud. PTD also commits to animated fiction aimed at children, co-producing stories such as Kirikou & the Sorceress by Michel Ocelot or The Blue Arrow and A Greyhound of a Girl by Enzo DʼAlò.
These projects have, amongst others, earned Paul Thiltges Distributions numerous nominations and awards at prestigious film festivals around the world such as Locarno, Cannes, San Francisco or Annecy, strengthening its reputation in the international film industry.
Paul Thiltges Distributions was awarded the Golden Bear at the Berlinale 2021 for Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn by Radu Jude.