“…fascinating…emotional…Intriguingly grounds the creative process in the specificity of individual experience.”
— Justin Lowe,
“Sun and Chiang strike a tricky balance between a high-stakes making-of documentary and an intimate, observational family portrait, but Maleonn is such a thoughtful, sensitive, brilliant subject that the film is compelling no matter where on the creative spectrum they find him.”
— Scott Tobias,
ABOUT THE FILM
LONG SYNOPSIS
43-year-old Maleonn is one of China’s most influential conceptual artists today. His father, Ma Ke, was the artistic director of the Shanghai Chinese Opera Theater. After being humiliated and forbidden from working for a decade during the Cultural Revolution, Ma Ke immersed himself in theater. The mysterious excitement of Ma Ke’s creative world inspired the young Maleonn, but his father’s absences stoked early feelings of resentment.
When Ma Ke is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, Maleonn pours everything into an ambitious new theater project: “Papa’s Time Machine,” a visually stunning time-travel adventure told with human-sized puppets. At the play’s heart are autobiographical scenes inspired by Maleonn’s memories with his father. He hopes this will bring the them together artistically and personally.
With enthusiasm both domestically and from abroad, the play shows signs of a promising future. But Ma Ke’s condition deteriorates. Maleonn is torn between the original goal to honor his father and the pressure towards commercial success. Ma Ke struggles to contribute to the play, and barely recognizes the play when it is completed.
Facing his father’s painful decline, Maleonn is more discerning of life’s complexities. There are no effortless masterpieces or simple solutions. And there’s no traveling back in time to retrieve what has been lost. There, is however, the relationship that has developed with co-director Tianyi. He proposes to her, ready to become a partner and a father, and to carry on forward with a new outlook on his art and life.
Directors Yang Sun, S. Leo Chiang
Co-Director Shuang Liang
Producers S. Leo Chiang, Yang Sun
Executive Producers Jean Tsien, Sally Jo Fifer, Nick Fraser
Editor Bob Lee
Cinematographers Yang Sun, Shuang Liang
Music Paul Brill
FESTIVALS
2019: Tribeca (World Premiere)
AWARDS
Best Cinematography—Documentary (Tribeca), Grand Jury Award—International Documentary Feature (Los Angeles Asian Pacific), Best Documentary (CAAMFest), Best International Director: S. Leo Chiang & Yang Sun (Doc Edge New Zealand), All In The Family (Doc Edge New Zealand), Jury Award for Best Documentary (Indie Street), Jury Award for Best Documentary (Pordenone Docs Fest)
AVAILABLE TERRITORIES
The World
EXHIBITION FORMATS
DCP, Blu-Ray
PRESS KIT
Download Press Kit
AVAILABLE PRESS IMAGES (click to preview)
