Apple’s 2021 Chinese New Year film by TBWA\Media Arts Lab Shanghai is an epic. It’s twelve minutes long and is based on an ancient Chinese New Year legend of Nian, which led to China’s lion dances. It is also a very modern story about childhood wonder and parenting.
The fabled Nian (nian is, in fact, the Chinese word for year) was a monster who lived in the mountains and would come down at the end of the year to destroy the fields, crops and animals and terrorize people and sometimes kill them all. Gradually, the mountain villagers came to realise that the monster was frightened by loud noises, bright lights and the colour red. So to thwart its rampages, the villagers made a fearful model of the animal out of bamboo, paper, and cloths, with two men inside the animate it. On New Year’s Eve they waited for the monster. When he came, their replica chase him away, accompanied by the furious beating of drums, cymbals and gongs, and lights of firecrackers. This is why the lion dance is performed at Chinese New Year today.
The legend plays the role of an allegory. In the film, a courageous young girl befriends the monster. Her parents are forced to confront their fears – they want to protect their daughter but realise that her courage, imagination and curiosity are assets and they have to let go. They become supportive of her adventurousness and way of seeing the world.
The film was directed by Chinese-born American director, Lulu Wang, who directed 2019’s Golden Globe-nominated American comedy drama, The Farewell, starring Awkwafina. Wang describes the film as “a heartwarming coming of age tale about a young girl caught between the fantasy of her childhood and growing up into the real world”.
She worked on the film remotely because of Covid travel restrictions and it was filmed entirely with an iPhone 12 Pro Max, highlighting features such as Dolby Vision, low-light, ultra-wide lens, telephoto lens, stabilisation and time-lapse.
Watch the behind-the-scenes video:
