{"id":30665,"date":"2026-05-22T10:17:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T07:17:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/?post_type=movies&p=30665"},"modified":"2026-05-22T18:29:57","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T15:29:57","slug":"light-pillar","status":"publish","type":"movies","link":"https:\/\/msfilmfestival.fi\/en\/movies\/light-pillar\/","title":{"rendered":"Light Pillar"},"content":{"rendered":"

In his debut feature film, X\u00fa Z\u01ceo uses animation and live action to invert our expectations about dreams and reality. An introspective examination of the alienation of modern life, <\/span>Light Pillar<\/span><\/i> tells the story of L\u01ceo Zh\u0101, a lonely janitor at the failing Old New East West Film Studio. His world is depicted in serene animation that encompasses both the dullness of his job with the promise of exploring the universe with the much-hyped tourist Light Pillar Space Travel Program. Set in winter\u2014a winter of discontent for both him and the studio\u2014 Zh\u0101 drifts through the detritus of a defunct era of filmmaking with only the company of his cool, sweet cat He Bao, a former award-winning actor.<\/span><\/p>\n

This graveyard of dreams mixes the ridiculous and sublime: the Acropolis is next to the Great Sphinx of Giza, which houses the staff lounge, and the studio owner lives in the throne room of the Forbidden City, sharing space with a lighthouse and beached ship. Within this land of illusions, Zh\u0101 leads an isolated life, and when the owner gives him a VR game (called Home Sweet Home) in lieu of payment, he is quickly drawn into its radiant, nostalgic, and entirely exploitative world, ironically filmed as live action. Drawn into an elusive romantic courtship, he undergoes an unexpected transformation, which is mirrored by the surprising future of the Film Studio.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Born in Anshan, China in 1991, filmmaker and screenwriter <\/span>X\u00da Z\u01cdO<\/b> studied at the Beijing Film Academy and worked on production design before directing three animated films in the past few years. A story about a post-graduate musician struggling to find work, <\/span>No Changes Have Taken in Our Life<\/span><\/i> (<\/span>H\u00e1i n\u00e8i y\u00e0ng<\/span><\/i>) premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2023 and won a Golden Dove at DOK Leipzig. <\/span>Love Music Friend<\/span><\/i> (<\/span>X\u012bn de sh\u0113ng hu\u00f3<\/span><\/i>), the tale of a pianist, a wolfhound, and the power of music and love, screened at the Shanghai International Film Festival in 2025. His feature film debut, the poignant and pensive <\/span>Light Pillar,<\/span><\/i> premiered at the Berlinale earlier this year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jennifer Barker<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In his debut feature film, X\u00fa Z\u01ceo uses animation and live action to invert our expectations about dreams and reality. An introspective examination of the alienation of modern life, Light Pillar tells the story of L\u01ceo Zh\u0101, a lonely janitor at the failing Old New East West Film Studio. His world is depicted in serene… View Article<\/a>","protected":false},"featured_media":30663,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-30665","movies","type-movies","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","filters-animation","filters-gems-of-new-cinema","filters-subtitles-in-english-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLight Pillar — Midnight Sun Film Festival<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In his debut feature film, X\u00fa Z\u01ceo uses animation and live action to invert our expectations about dreams and reality. 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