The Quilin
2019 / HD / DOCUMENTARY SHORT WITH ANIMATION / 16:9 / COLOUR / STEREO
A short documentary-animation that explores the experience of African migrants in China.
THE QILIN reveals the hidden networks of trade, the camera moving from the city’s labyrinthine wholesale malls, through its sprawling packing warehouses, towards the vast container port. Through rotoscope animation and traditional shadow-play, THE QILIN makes visible a secretive community that thrives in anonymity. The voices of traders from Kenya, Nigeria, Somalia and Congo trace immigrant lives shaped by great opportunity – but also by, and Congo trace immigrant lives shaped by great opportunity and risk, alienation, and the caprice of the Chinese state.
Directors: Sam Hopkins and Dave Lale
Animation and Rotoscope: VAMOS Animation
