Sunday Oct 30, 2022
Eternal Spring / Film School Radio interview with Director Jason Lofton
ETERNAL SPRING documents the story behind the nationwide crack down of a spiritual group and the incident that brought down the wrath of the Chinese government. In March 2002, a state TV signal in China was hijacked by members of the banned spiritual group Falun Gong. Their goal is to counter the government narrative about their practice. In the aftermath, police raids sweep Changchun City, and comic book illustrator Daxiong (Justice League, Star Wars), a Falun Gong practitioner, is forced to flee. He arrives in North America, blaming the hijacking for worsening a violent repression. But his views are challenged when he meets the lone surviving participant to have escaped China, now living in Seoul, South Korea. Combining present-day footage with 3D animation inspired by Daxiong’s art, Eternal Spring retraces the event on its 20th anniversary, and brings to life an unprecedented story of defiance, harrowing eyewitness accounts of persecution, and an exhilarating tale of determination to speak up for political and religious freedoms, no matter the cost. Director Jason Loftus (Ask Know Questions) joins us for a conversation on the history and the suppression of Falun Gong, how the group of members came together, working with Daxiong and the current political climate in China and his continuing work to uncover the repressive actions of that government through his films. For more go to: eternalspringfilm.com