A History of the Wind
In the windless city of Chengdu, memory beckons. Its power forces one to confront disappearance. Thus, one becomes the wind, and disappearance merges with memory.
在无风之城成都，记忆再次追寻而来。无从逃脱的我们唯有直面消逝。就这样，我们化为风，消逝也成为记忆的一部分。
A History of the Wind is a silent cinematic work dedicated to the wind.
The initial inspiration, other than natural life forces, was my reading of Alain Corbin’s innovative microhistory, A History of the Wind (2023).
Wind has many faces: physical, emotional, and spiritual. Cinema’s capturing of this ineffable presence is my overriding aspiration.
In Joris Ivens' final film Une Histoire de Vent, he travels to China to film the wind. A lifelong asthma sufferer, he confesses to a tai-chi master his fear of breathing out. The master responds that the secret of breathing lies in the rhythm of the autumn wind. Wind, as mysterious as it is invisible, connects our bodies to rhythms of nature and cycles of life.
This film emerged through chance discoveries and improvisation, revealing unexpected beauty along the way. In making and sharing this film, I hope to evoke the wind's silent strength and ephemeral beauty in our bodily memory. A force that shapes our world in ways both gentle and profound.
2024 / 75 min / Canada, China / Silent / 3:2
Performance by Kota Fudauchi
Cinematography by Sherry Wu
Directed and edited by Sabrina Zhao
Produced by Sabrina Zhao, Peter Marrack, Kota Fudauchi, Sherry Wu
With the generous support of
