The second edition of attic’s Chinese Short Film Program invites audiences to collectively explore the idea of “rest” through a curated selection of short films and a participatory activity.
Rehearsal for Rest responds to a familiar condition: the difficulty of slowing down. Even in moments of pause, our thoughts stay in motion. Rest often becomes another task, another performance. As the year winds down, this program offers a space to step back from that pace and consider, quietly, what rest might mean again.
Cinema is a space where reality loosens its grip and time stretches differently. The 6 short films in this program move through atmosphere and sensation. Some move slowly, some have little or no dialogue, and some drift without a fixed storyline. Rather than pushing you toward a definition, they leave room to wander, to get lost, to rest your attention on an image or a sound.
Alongside the screening, we’ve prepared a booklet with film notes, reflections, and small games / exercises. You can explore it whenever you like, during or after the event. In the intermission, we’ll invite those who wish to try a few exercises together, but you’re free to simply take the break for yourself.
The title of the program is inspired by Phil Solomon’s film Rehearsals for Retirement (2007), created within the digital world of GTA. In this work, Solomon departs from the tactile world of celluloid and enters a dematerialized, simulated space where light, texture, and gravity dissolve into something dreamlike. In a similar spirit, our program moves between fiction and reality, between presence and disappearance.
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Program Lineup
0:00 A.M. | Yuanshen Yang | 2022 | 3mins | No dialogues | Dutch premiere
At 23:59, a white-collar worker, who has been working overtime for days on end, finally arrived home.
even if you want to go wherever you want to go it will leave regrets | Tianqi Tang | 2023 | 22mins17s | CN with EN subs | World premiere
*According to the filmmaker, the film’s synopsis drifted into the Moroccan black market with the computer he left behind in Casablanca.*
Night Breezes | Liangqi Yao | 2025 | 7mins43s | No dialogues | Dutch premiere
A late-night walk through London, drawn again and again to the city’s glow.
Les Choses Venues | Ziyang Wang | 2024 | 12mins17s | FR with CN+EN subs | European premiere
Anne travels alone to Auvergne after a strange diagnosis. A friend comes to visit her, and a conversation unfolds.
Chroma | Yunyi Zhu | 2024 | 7mins48s | EN with CN+EN subs | European premiere
Tilda Swinton, boating in the luminous, colorful Kunming Lake, tells us about Jarman's last film Blue, and his poem Chroma, written during the same period, in a garden by the sea.
Family Images | Yang Li | 2024 | 28mins38s | CN with CN+EN subs | European premiere
Three skateboarding teens start a shared life. On moving day: a crash, a breakup, a stray cat—and a new chapter begins.
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Curated by: @isnze @yingqi
Tickets: https://www.droog.com/program/attic-presents-chinese-short-film-program-...
About attic:
Founded in Amsterdam, attic is a community-oriented platform for moving images and artistic exchange. Follow us on Instagram for updates (@attic.ams).
The Chinese Short Film Program is an ongoing series within attic’s curatorial practice, dedicated to presenting works by a new generation of Chinese filmmakers.