Nirvenue (2018)

Overview

This film shares the common theme of migration and search with Kal Ng’s 1999 film Dreamtrips, while further visualizing the two cities of Toronto and Hong Kong. We can see in this film an empty version of Toronto and a purified version of Hong Kong, which appear and disappear on the screen alternately and create a world of constant flux and imagination. Influenced by André Bazin's 'myth of total cinema', Kal Ng feels that the ultimate purpose of cinema is to re-present a priori experience of human existence deep down inside. In other words, cinema is never a fully developed invention, but a progressive movement that continuously explores the imagery system. Through his films, Kal Ng focuses on exploring the spatial dimension of how emotional messages are conveyed beyond the narrative through the interaction between human beings and landscape.