People’s Park (Film Installation)

[Libbie D. Cohn, J.P. Sniadecki, 78 minutes, China/USA, 2012] Between the trees and perched over the UCSD lawn, we create a portal to a park. We’re in Chengdu, China, specifically, a large urban park which we come to discover through a fabulous, unbroken 78-minute tracking shot weaving past sycamores and chess players, curious kids, and dancing seniors. On this large stationary projection screen positioned at eye-level, passersby will come face-to-face with the visual and aural splendor of a raucous public space, in which ordinary residents hang out, eat, waltz, boat, and express themselves. Chinese pedestrians walking by will smile or pose for the camera; will UCSD passersby return the smile? This video exhibit not only presents a sensorial explosion beamed from abroad, but also becomes a way of looking back on our own leisure spaces, ecological order, and sense of community.

People’s Park was included in a list of the Top 10 Must-See Films at the Montreal International Film Festival, where the film had its premiere.

The directors, together with the Harvard Sensory Ethnography Lab, were featured artists in the 2014 Whitney Biennial.

Awards

Gian Paolo Paoli award for Best Anthropological Film at the 53 Festival dei Popoli 2012

Best Cinematography Award at the 51st Ann Arbor Film Festival 2013

Cine de Guerrilla 2013 at Lima Independiente: Festival Internacional de Cine