Chrysanthemum

Jingyuan Luo / Germany / 2025 / International Premiere / 9 min.

synopsis

In Hohhot, northern China, at the height of the strictest anti-COVID measures, a woman jumped from the window of an isolated house. An animated documentary essay, filmed in the aftermath of a suicide silenced by the state, reflects on the inhumanity of repression and dwells on gestures of grief. Hand-painted animation, constructed frame by frame from expressive brushstrokes, transforms the idea of tragedy into a pulsating image.

“In order to stay in reality, I have to keep reliving the past.”

biography

Jingyuan Luo (b. 1996) is a transmedia artist originally from China who lives and studies in Cologne. Her work combines painting, photography, and video. She is interested in confronting socially dominant narratives with the body and personal memory. In her animated film The Yellow Ghost (2022) – as in Chrysanthemum – she focuses on the impact of a state of emergency on everyday life.