River is My Hometown

Synopsis

"River is My Hometown" reveals a perspective of a revenant through a short film (revenant: one that returns after death or a long absence). Where to return? Artist River Cao glimpsed the potential answer to this question in Rilke’s poem “in my invisible landscape, the most beautiful, you make me more angel-known, those are invisible.” – Duino Elegies (1923). As the hum of mourning began to arise, a traditional funeral ceremony “Plead for Water” from his hometown helps to return him as a revenant to a homeland that transcends the geographic concept, it’s a place more private and intimate, where the emotion of grief has been reconsidered since then.

Cast and crew

About the director(s):
River Cao is a moving image and performance artist based in London. River’s recent work has revolved around practices of mourning and memory, with a particular focus on the figure of the revenant, a reanimated body who returns from the afterlife to haunt the living. Their practice reimagines the performative act of lamentation in regional Chinese cultures through a queer lens, revealing the possibilities of a fluid subject that can explore the landscapes of the past.

River Cao

Gallery