zi

ERIC SAYS With 3 prior feature films (and a highly influential body of work as a video essayist), Kogonada has emerged as a guiding light of sorts to the New/Next generation of filmmakers, finding ways to make the films he wants to make with no trace of compromise in their finished forms. Lest there be any doubt, he here follows two Colin Farrell-starring features (After Yang for A24 and A Big Bold Beautiful Journey for Sony) with his most immediate, hand-crafted film yet.  After two bigger-budget projects, zi feels like a return to Kogonada’s roots. But whereas his debut narrative feature, Columbus, offered a brilliant study of architecture—architecture of the literal buildings of the titular town in Indiana in which it’s set, to be sure, but also the architectures of shot construction, edits, and character development—zi unfolds with a more spontaneous and unfettered energy befitting the bustling city of Hong Kong and the chaotic interior lives of its characters. While the work of a well-seasoned artist, zi triumphantly realizes its high-concept sci-fi themes with the adrenaline-rush ingenuity of a guerilla-crew shoot.

We’re thrilled that Kogonada, Chris Radcliffe, Michelle Mao and Jin Ha are all expected to be in attendance for our screening of zi.