MUSIC VIDEO
MARCH 9, 2022
USA | 3 minutes | 2021
Directed by Beidi Wang
Featuring Dragon Wu, Jasmin Lin
Sludge: Jiàn zhuó
Chinese title: 见浊
Deep in the surrealistic mountains and forests, two hideous impermanence (无常) in black and white escort a mythical feminine creature living in the river as a tribute to the nature god. A straying wine-and-meat monk, starring the musician Dragon Wu, goes by their journey and chants.
Director’s Statement
“仁者见仁，智者见智，浊者见浊。”
“The benevolent see benevolence, the wise see wisdom, the turbid see sludge.”
Deep in the surrealistic mountains and forests, two hideous impermanence (无常) in black and white escort a mythical feminine creature living in the river as a tribute to the nature god. A straying wine-and-meat monk, starring the musician Dragon Wu, goes by their journey and chants.
The mythological naturalistic setting refers to the traditional Chinese ceremony nuo wu (傩舞) from Jiangxi, China. The Han people would wear masks of ghosts and gods to worship the nature as a form of sacrificial activity. The inner state of such traditions originates from people’s inborn fear to the unknown.
Amidst absurd yet pre-existing metaphors, this video appropriates the ancient ceremony in a modernized context, where the feminine water-living genie, starring the non-binary choreography artist Jas Lin, unchains from the conventional gaze of the nature, and empowers their self-defined presence through the trace of water.
In the spirit of recapitulation of ancient Chinese convention, the director Beidi Wang, a USC MFA alumna, wants to portray a ridiculous yet cynical fantasia in between myths, women and the gaze of nature.
– Beidi Wang
Sludge: Jiàn zhuó is one of the many great projects shared with CineAsian Films through our submissions process. If you’d like to join them, submit your project.
Credits
Director, Producer, Editor: Beidi Wang
Producer: Im-sun Song
Cinematographer: Jiahao Zhang
CineAsian Films 