China, 87. The Others

In the 1980s, Jean-Pierre Outers worked as a French teacher in China, an experience that he recounted in his book La Tête ailleurs. During his time in China, the author also shot “fly-on-the-wall” footage about life there. The filmmaker, together with Violaine de Villers – whose recent La Langue rouge was screened at Studio 5 – has edited this raw material, devoid of any kind of commentary, save philosophical maxims to introduce the chapters. The two filmmakers have created a visual notebook of images that are both mundane and striking of a China before the great changes wrought recently in this country the size of a continent.

Flagey, Cinematek