Free Screenings: AI and Animation

3 min

A speculative exploration into the blurred lines between memory, reality, and technology. Through AI, the filmmaker’s childhood photos are expanded, creating new, if not false, context for the scene. In doing so, it raises important questions about the nature of memory and how our brains process information. What effects will long term exposure to AI-generated images / AI altered photos have on our brains? Can AI help to reframe traumatic memories and promote healing? Or does it create a false sense of reality that can lead to confusion and cognitive dissonance?

5 min

In 2013, Lei Lei and Thomas Sauvin collected numbers of black-and-white photos from Chinese flea markets and imagined that all of them belonged to one fictional Chinese person. Through rendering, collage, and a cyclical process of hand coloring, scanning, and printing, connections among the photos were created. They spent two years repeating this painstakingly analogue process. These 1168 hand-colored photos invoke the passage of time, injecting life into the imaginary protagonist as he ventures through time and space.

Coco (2017), Adrian Molina, Lee Unkrich

105 minutes | PG

In Disney Pixar’s vibrant tale of family, fun and adventure, an aspiring young musician named Miguel (voice of newcomer Anthony Gonzalez) embarks on an extraordinary journey to the magical land of his ancestors. There, the charming trickster Héctor (voice of Gael García Bernal) becomes an unexpected friend who helps Miguel uncover the mysteries behind his family’s stories and traditions.

Don’t miss a ‘cameo’ of Frida Kahlo, in a loving homage that sees the artist continuing to flourish in the afterlife.

My China Film / Bold Journey: Native Land (1936)

30 minutes

A documentary-like film, Anna May Wong directed and produced her one and only trip to China in 1936. My China Film depicts Wong exploring her native land through everyday activities –walking through the streets of Shanghai, enjoying the view of their ancestral village with her father, and being fitted for cheongsams.

First filmed in 1936, My China Film was presented two decades later in 1957, in a television programme called Bold Journey: Native Land. The programme interspersed footage from My China Film with an interview of an older Anna May Wong, who reminisces on the trip and reconciles with her diasporic identity with humour and wisdom.

Frida (2024), Carla Gutiérrez

87 minutes | NC16 (Nudity)

Images Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios

An intimately raw and magical journey through the life, mind, and heart of iconic artist Frida Kahlo. Told through her own words for the very first time - drawn from her diary, revealing letters, essays, and print interviews - and brought vividly to life by lyrical animation inspired by her unforgettable artwork.

The feature film directorial debut of acclaimed editor Carla Gutiérrez (RBG, La Corona), Frida posits a striking context as to why the artist – and her art -- remains as powerful as ever.

Piccadilly (1929), E.A. Dupont

109 minutes

Dubbed as ‘one of the truly great films of the silent era’ by Martin Scorsese, Piccadilly stars Anna May Wong as Shosho, a young woman working in the kitchen of a London nightclub. Her sensuous tabletop dance catches the eye of suave club owner Valentine Wilmot, who gives her the chance to become the club’s main act.

She rises to become the toast of London and the object of his erotic obsession - to the bitter jealousy of Mabel, his former lover and star dancer.

GOLDEN AGE OF HOLLYWOOD

Blank on Blank Animated Interviews with Marlene Dietrich / Grace Kelly / Bette Davis
4 to 5 min each

Blank on Blank is an animated short film series produced by Quoted Studios. Their aim is uncovering lost interviews with notable figures and breathing new life into these oral histories.

As part of Free Screenings: Golden Age of Hollywood film __ programme, ArtScience Cinema screens three episodes from the series that highlights legendary Hollywood leading ladies Bette Davis, Marlene Dietrich and Grace Kelly.