• A Shepherd’s Flute
  • A Deer of Nine Colors
  • Where Is Mama?
  • The Magic Paintbrush


Chinese Animation: The Screen and the Scroll



Introduction

  • Julia Irwin

    Julia Irwin is a PhD candidate in the Department of Film and Media at UC Berkeley.

  • Linda C. Zhang

    Linda C. Zhang is an assistant professor of film in the Art & Media Studies program at Fulbright University Vietnam. She received a PhD from the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, with a designated emphasis in film and media, at UC Berkeley.

This program for all ages features animated shorts created by the internationally acclaimed Shanghai Animation Film Studio between 1954 and 1981. In Chinese, animation is described as meishupian, or “fine art films,” suggesting the medium’s kinship with painting. The films each feature painting and folk art that link screen with scroll—from references to the Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes cave paintings (A Deer of Nine Colors) and the ethereal ink painting of renowned artist Qi Baishi (Where Is Mama?; A Shepherd’s Flute) to allegories about bettering one’s community (The Magic Paintbrush). The screen becomes a site for the painterly projection of dreams, nightmares, and fantasies. 

— Julia Irwin and Linda Zhang

The Screen and the Scroll is a project of the UC Berkeley graduate course in film curating taught by BAMPFA curator Kathy Geritz in Fall 2021. 

Films in this Screening

Where Is Mama?
(Where Is Mother?)

Te Wei, Qian Jiajun, China, 1960

FILM DETAILS 
Language
  • Mandarin
  • with English subtitles
Print Info
  • Color
  • Digital
  • 15 mins
source
  • Shanghai Animation Film Studio, with thanks to UK-China Film Collab

A Deer of Nine Colors
(The Nine-Color Deer)

Qian Jiajun, Dai Tielang, China, 1981

FILM DETAILS 
Language
  • Mandarin
  • with English subtitles
Print Info
  • Color
  • Digital
  • 24 mins
source
  • Shanghai Animation Film Studio, with thanks to UK-China Film Collab

The Magic Paintbrush
(The Magic Brush)

Jin Xi, China, 1954

FILM DETAILS 
Language
  • Mandarin
  • with English subtitles
Print Info
  • Color
  • Digital
  • 20 mins
source
  • Shanghai Animation Film Studio, with thanks to UK-China Film Collab

A Shepherd’s Flute
(The Reed Pipe)

Te Wei, Qian Jiajun, China, 1963

FILM DETAILS 
Print Info
  • Color
  • Digital
  • 20 mins
source
  • Shanghai Animation Film Studio, with thanks to UK-China Film Collab