IN CHARACTER
Tracy Dong • 2018
A director with a real Cultural Revolution complex, named Ye Jing. Attempts to bring 13 young actors back to the Cultural Revolution by taking them to a firearms factory in a village in Sichuan without the possibility of having any contact from the outside world – just like an anthropological experiment. These 13 young actor must wear clothes and listen to music from the period everyday. When one of the actor asks for leave, a great struggle ensues. It would appear that these actors have gone through some quite astonishing changes during their time together.
AWARDS & FESTIVALS
2018 Göteborg Film Festival, Sweden
CAST & CREW
DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
Tracy Dong
Director
As In Character, originally I would like to reflect the living conditions of Chinese actors and I found it would be more meaningful to present as the experience of the life during the period of Cultural Revolution under Modern Chinese context. For me it is a surprising founding and the climax of the movie is based on an incident. I do believe this is indeed the charm of documentary. In fact, In Character is not to discuss Cultural Revolution directly but to draw the rethinking of collectivism and include the reflection of the living conditions of Chinese actors.