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Eternal Spring (Chinese: 长春) is a 2022 Canadian adult animated documentary film written, directed and co-produced by Jason Loftus.[1] Based around the animation of Chinese artist Daxiong, the film centres on Falun Gong's 2002 hijacking of broadcast television stations in Changchun, and China's continued repression of ethnic and religious minority groups.[1]
| Eternal Spring | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Traditional Chinese | 長春 |
| Simplified Chinese | 长春 |
| Literal meaning | Eternal Spring / Changchun |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Chángchūn |
| Directed by | Jason Loftus |
| Written by | Jason Loftus |
| Produced by | Jason Loftus Masha Loftus Yvan Pinard Kevin Koo |
| Starring | Daxiong |
| Cinematography | John Minh Tran |
| Edited by | David Schmidt |
| Music by | Thomas William Hill |
Production company | Lofty Sky Entertainment |
Release date |
|
Running time | 86 minutes |
| Country | Canada |
| Languages | English Mandarin |
The film premiered at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival on March 15, 2022.[2] It was subsequently screened at the 2022 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, where it was named the overall winner of the Hot Docs Audience Award for most popular film in the festival, and the first-place winner of the Rogers Audience Award for the most popular Canadian film.[3]
In August 2022, the film was announced as Canada's submission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.[4] It was the first documentary film and the first animated film ever submitted by Canada, and only the fourth time since 1971 that a film was selected in a language other than French.[4] On November 9, 2022, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences officially deemed the film eligible for consideration in the Best Animated Feature category.[5]
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Critical reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 79% based on 33 reviews from critics, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "More impressive in form than function, Eternal Spring offers a periodically gripping mixed-media account of a pivotal moment in modern Chinese history".[6] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 71 out of 100, based on 9 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[7]
Awards and nominations
| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zurich Film Festival | October 2, 2022 | Best International Documentary Film | Eternal Spring | Nominated | [8] |
| Vancouver Film Critics Circle | February 13, 2023 | Best Canadian Film | Nominated | [9] | |
| Best Canadian Documentary | Won | ||||
| Best Director of a Canadian Film | Jason Loftus | Nominated | |||
| Annie Awards | February 25, 2023 | Outstanding Achievement for Writing in an Animated Feature Production | Nominated | [10] | |
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