Ai Can
Ai Can is a documentary portrait of a man who suffers from mental illness, but never stopped making his art during years of retirement.
During a conversation with a friend, she showed me photos of her grandfather, Zhou Ai Can's unusual collection of toys and installations he made. I became interested and interviewed his family. Ai Can's wife and daughter talked about their opinions on his works. Suffering from the result of Ai Can's hoarding behavior, his family decided to clean up all the "trash". Before they refurnish the house entirely, I stepped in and took footage of the remaining objects
Because of his mental state, I've never met Ai Can in person during the whole making process of this film. With the interview recordings and my own interpretation, I made video collages and animation representing physical and emotion landscape Ai Can once lived upon. All visual elements are made with his collection and found footage.
Made at Calarts
2018
Festivals
San Diego Underground Film Festival
Factual Animation Film Festival
Eyeworks Festival
New Chitose Airport Animation Festival
Sidewalk Film Festival
Poster
