Eternal Spring (58 Minute Version)
Catalogue Number: LSD168
Producer: Lofty Sky Distribution
Producers: Loftus, Jason
Directors: Loftus, Jason
Producing Agencies: Lofty Sky Entertainment
Subject: Animation, Arts, Canadian World Studies, Criminal Justice & Law, Diversity, Documentary, History, Media and Communications, Politics, Religious Studies, Social Sciences, World History
Language: English
Grade Level: Post Secondary, Adult
Country Of Origin: Canada
Copyright Year: 2022
Running Time: 58:03
In March 2002, a state TV signal in China gets hacked by members of the banned spiritual group Falun Gong. Their goal is to counter the government narrative about their practice.
In the aftermath, police raids sweep Changchun City, and comic book illustrator Daxiong (Justice League, Star Wars), a Falun Gong practitioner, is forced to flee. He arrives in North America, blaming the hijacking for worsening an already violent repression. But his views are challenged when he meets the lone surviving participant to have escaped China, now living in Seoul, South Korea.
Combining present-day footage with 3D animation inspired by Daxiong’s art, Eternal Spring (長春) retraces the event on its 20th anniversary, and brings to life an unprecedented story of defiance told through harrowing eyewitness accounts of persecution and incredible artistry. Eternal Spring is an exhilarating tale of determination to speak up for political and religious freedoms, no matter the cost.
Program is in Mandarin with English subtitles.
Please click here for the 86 minute version of this film.
Also available as an 86 minute version with French subtitles.
Canada’s Entry for the 2023 OSCARS® - Best International Feature Film
2023 SIMA Award Winner - Best Director
2023 Vancouver Film Critics Award - Best Canadian Documentary
50th Annie Awards Nominee - Best Writing in a Feature Film
2023 Rockie Awards Winner - Grand Jury Prize
2022 WIFF Prize in Canadian Film Nominee
Hot Docs 2022 – Winner – Audience Award: Best Documentary
Thessaloniki Documentary Festival 2022 - Winner - “Peter Wintonick” Fischer Audience Award (Best International Feature)/ Winner - Hellenic Parliament Human Values Award
San Francisco Documentary Festival 2022 - Winner - Special Jury Prize - Spirit of Activism Award
Budapest International Documentary Film Festival 2023 - Winner - Audience Award
Best Historical Documentary - AIB - Association for International Broadcasting
BEST CANADIAN DOCUMENTARY (Rogers Group of Funds) – Sundar Prize Film Festival
Peabody Award Nominee 2024
Peabody Award Nominee 2024
The only film qualified for the 2023 Academy Awards® in all three of Best Documentary Feature, Best Animated Feature and Best International Feature categories.
“A heartfelt journey to reconnect to the past and unearth uncomfortable, but necessary truths…it’s impossible not to be moved by the stories of these survivors and the ones they’ve lost” —The Globe and Mail
Related Titles
Painful Truth
InFilm Productions IFP003Painful Truth unveils the pain, trauma and loss that resulted from persecution and organ harvesting...
Ask No Questions
Lofty Sky Distribution LSD166When Chinese state TV blames his faith for a fiery public suicide, Chen Ruichang is detained in a...
Banned Beauty Queen
Lofty Sky Distribution LSD167The story of Canada’s Miss World, Anastasia Lin burst onto front pages when her father, who lives...
In the Name of Confucius
Passion River Films PR3809In the Name of Confucius is the first documentary exposé of China’s multi-billion dollar...
Gimme A Faith
Video Project, Inc. TVP097Each year, hundreds of thousands of Chinese students arrive in the United States to attend college...