In the current Chinese film industry, Liu Jian can be regarded as a representative of the term “auteur theory”. Liu, “hoping every line to be my style”, has undertaken all key tasks, from script writing, directing, original painting to animation, in his first two animated feature films, Piercing I and Have a Nice Day. This way of working requires a particularly long cycle of creation, but allows him to have an ultrahigh control over each of his works and form his unique strong authorship and artistry. 

Liu’s animated film, Have a Nice Day, was shortlisted for the Competition section of the Berlin International Film Festival in 2017. Six years later, another animation Art College 1994, which was a co-production with teachers and students of the China Academy of Art, was nominated again for the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. This achievement is outstanding in the animated film field and even the whole film industry. 

　　A still of Art College 1994

In his third feature film, Liu Jian was no longer alone, and there were many students and colleagues from the China Academy of Art in his team. Although the team became bigger (still much smaller than the size of industrialized animation teams), this film, Art College 1994, seems to have a deeper connection to Liu himself than his first two films. The story, taking place at the “Chinese Southern Academy of Arts” in 1994, is not only a retrospect of Liu's youth through the cracks of times with the screen as a window, but also the summary and traceability of his artistic creation ideas. 

　　Liu Jian

At the Beijing Film Panorama of the 14th BJIFF, two of Liu Jian’s works shortlisted for the Competition section of Berlin International Film Festival, Have a Nice Day and Art College 1994, will be screened at the Filmmaker in Focus sub-section. Let's walk out of the screen, and enter the film world of this animation artist. 

　　Have a Nice Day 

Have a Nice Day, the second animated feature film by Liu Jian, amazed all the audiences at home and abroad when it was just released. The film was not only shortlisted for the Competition section of the Berlin International Film Festival that year, but also helped Liu win the Best Director at the First Pingyao Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon International Film Festival. 

In a small town in an urban-rural fringe area, a bag containing a million yuan in cash is also filled with the desires of all people -- a driver from the construction site, a man and a woman with shamate hairstyle, a killer and a boss. Surrounding the bag, a dark and hilarious stage play is thus put on. The gloomy and gray real world and the bright colors of everyone's dreams form a sharp contrast that stimulates the visual nerves of the audience, while the low-frame picture quality, although rough and tough, allows people to have a little bit of time to appreciate every artistic frame. 

　　A still of Have a Nice Day

The contradiction and conflict run through the narrative of the film and the creation concept itself. In this age where everything is priced, when ideals and romance break into the color palette of reality with strong undertones, the only color left is ironic and funny black. It's worth mentioning that the film was not dubbed by professional dubbers, but by local artists in Nanjing. The Nanjing dialect not only adds a breath of real life to such a magical animated film, and but also makes its absurd atmosphere even stronger.

　　A still of Have a Nice Day

　　Art College 1994 

Everyone may look back on the youth with tenderness. Art College 1994 continues to pursue black humor of Liu Jian's works, but its picture quality is undoubtedly much brighter than his previous two animated feature films. The director has arranged a lot of scenery shots of the campus in this film: A long-horned beetle is trying to climb the stone wall like mosses, climbing up and falling down, but never gives up; A cloud drifting across the mountains is casting its shadow on the lake; the blooming flowers, the green grass and even the old rusty iron shed also show great vitality against the backdrop of green grass. At that time, the world and people are very young, both having vibrant vitality and bright colors. 

　　A still of Art College 1994

The film tells the story of a group of confused students on the campus of an art academy in 1994 exploring what art is, whether love exists, and where the future is heading. At the crossroad of the times, after undergoing the clash between traditional ideas and modern ones and the contradiction between ideals and reality, they have eventually showcased a raw and innocent vitality. Both the “Chinese Southern Academy of Arts” located in Nanjing and the Chinese painting major that Zhang Xiaojun studies in the film indicate the autobiographical style of the work. Perhaps the color palettes of youth are all similar. 

　　A still of Art College 1994

After graduating from Nanjing University of the Arts for many years, Liu Jian now serves as a professor at the China Academy of Art. He, along with teachers and students from the Department of Animation, drew this animated film Art College 1994 stroke by stroke. From 1994 to 2024, this animated feature film is not only a re-exploration of his artistic origin after 30 years, but also views the big screen as a mirror that has reflected young people’s spiritual changes and social development over the past three decades.

　　A still of Art College 1994

　　

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