Journey to the West

One UFO sighting after another proves false. He has to beg for money to keep his space-exploration magazine afloat. There are no messages in the TV static. Nevertheless, Tang Zhijun continues to believe in alien life forms and heads to the mountainous southwest of China, to investigate after watching a mysterious online video. He is accompanied by a drunk, a girl with insomnia, and a cynical staffer. For Tang, the moment of truth comes when they meet a young poet in a village, who says he is in contact with aliens.

Filmmaker Kong Dashan’s feature debut, which shares the same title as Wu Cheng’en’s Chinese 16th century classic Journey to the West, is a modern Odyssey for a generation of idealists. Just like the Chinese novel, this is an adventure story with comic side plots, emotional depth, and spiritual enlightenment as its goal. Tang needs this long search, to discover that while he seeks contact with aliens he forgets the world around him.

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Available on Festival Scope Pro from 26 January 9:00 CET to 14 February 9:00 CET



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