Building nostalgia

After two films on Chinese architecture, experimental filmmaker Ju Anqi is now working on a third, Chen Nan reports.

A life can sometimes be defined by random events. For Ju Anqi, a Chinese filmmaker, a chance to visit the Visions du Reel International Film Festival, a leading non-fiction film event in Nyon, Switzerland, in 2009, led to a project that he has been pursuing for the past decade.

That year, Ju's film, Night in China, which showcases a side of the country rarely examined, by capturing people's lives in darkness, from 6 pm to 6 am, won the jury prize at the festival. During the event, Ju watched a documentary on Japanese architecture and its influence on the world, especially on architects from Northern Europe. The documentary intrigued Ju.

"It inspired me to think of Chinese architecture, which has a long history and rich regional diversity. I wanted to make a film about Chinese architecture and the idea kept on growing, though I wasn't quite sure if I could make it," recalls Ju.