Chinese painter and filmmaker Qiu Jiongjiong developed his latest film “Fuxi: Four Tales of Feasting” during the pandemic, drawing inspiration from the widespread desire people felt to return to communal dining experiences. The film, now competing at the Tokyo International Film Festival, employs food and shared meals as connective tissue linking narratives spanning four distinct historical periods. Each chapter presents its own fantastical approach to the pleasures and significance of eating, with the title “Fuxi” conveying both the delight of food and the act of consumption itself.
The production features dialogue entirely in the Leshan dialect of Sichuan province. Taiwanese actor Lee Kang-sheng, known for his extensive work with director Tsai Ming-liang, takes on dual roles as elderly women from different eras, including a grandmother in the film’s prehistoric sequence. Despite not comprehending the dialect dialogue, Lee Kang-sheng worked extensively with dialect coaches on the production. Director Qiu expressed interest in casting Lee for what he described as a mysterious quality suited to portraying characters from ancient times, which informed his decision to have the actor play female characters.
Taiwanese actor Lee Hong-chi, who plays Song dynasty poet Su Dongpo, also collaborated with dialect coaches. Lee Hong-chi noted that he discovered his character assignment only upon receiving the script, though he was drawn to participate because of Qiu’s distinctive nonrealistic aesthetic and the fantastical world the director created. Unlike Qiu’s preceding feature “A New Old Play,” which centered on individual personal history, “Fuxi” presents four interconnected short stories advancing chronologically through different periods. Qiu employed the meals anchoring each narrative to examine themes of life and mortality.
“Fuxi” marked Qiu’s inaugural collaboration with professional actors, an experience he indicated has expanded his creative ambitions. Concurrently, Qiu’s solo exhibition “Qiu Jiongjiong: Fuxi: A Feast for the Universe” operates at Chengdu’s A4 Art Museum through Jan. 31, incorporating Sichuan-style banquets alongside painting, video, and installation works exploring regional culture and attitudes toward mortality. Lee Kang-sheng, whose performances in Tsai’s “Walker” series have garnered international recognition, recently completed filming on Argentine director Iván Fund’s science-fiction project “Bodies of Summer.” He indicated interest in pursuing action or martial-arts roles while maintaining his distinctive interpretive approach to character work.
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