Synopsis:

This is the story of Feng Guodong, one of China’s earliest new wave artists.

Feng rose from being a floor sweeper in a textile factory to creating works of art that shook the Chinese art community, and defied the communist repressions of his time.His works found their ways into the most esteemed art magazines and foreign papers, which resulted in his being reprimanded by the state and fired for his “un-proletarian” art work.

From trying to run a bar to opening an antique shop, Feng failed time and again at normal business ventures, and finally had to admit the truth about himself: he was an artist, and no amount of trying to fit in and earn money the conventional way was going to change that.No amount of poverty or hardship could make him abandon his art: when he couldn’t afford canvases he sewed up discarded jeans to paint on; when he ran out of paints he begged the art schools to donate their excess supplies.When neither was available he raided construction sites for pieces of wood he could carve into statues.An outcast of mainstream society, Feng scraped out a living and became a pioneering figure in Beijing’s Song Village, China’s answer to Greenwich.

This film recounts his years of struggle to sell even a single piece of artwork, and the ironic twist whereby his first sale was almost immediately followed by his being diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Feng’s one wish was to have a solo exhibition.The film ends along with Feng’s life: on a deathbed.watching his first—and last—solo exhibition via a camera feed.His death was recorded live and seen by everyone at the exhibition--while viewers were admiring the works of a master they were also watching the master’s life being snuffed out.

Liu Shi started as a painter in the ‘70s, and was part of China’s earliest avant-guard group “Unknown Artists Collective”. In the 1980s he moved into filmmaking, working as a set designer and art director, before starting a long and distinguished career in TV commercial directing in the 80’s. He has always had an avid love of photography and documentaries. “The Jolly Horsefly” is his first documentary, a labour of love that took 6 years. He is currently in production on his next two documentaries.
Liu Shi is a firm believer in the importance of independent documentaries that are free from financial obligations, as only then can they genuinely reflect the director’s message and be a true mirror to society.