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"Space Exploration Editorial Department": presents the fresh vitality of soft science fiction

One month after the release of "The Wandering Earth 2", the main creative team launched a new round of roadshows with the theme of "opening imagination", and director Guo Fan and the main creator walked into the campuses of primary and secondary schools across the country, hoping to sow the seeds of science fiction and imagination in the hearts of children.

Among the accompanying creators, there is a young man from the 90s, named Kong Dashan, who is the director of Group B of "The Wandering Earth 2". During the roadshow, his film debut "Space Exploration Editorial Department", directed independently by him and produced by Guo Fan, was released nationwide on April 1. In and out of the play, the seeds of science fiction have actually been planted and begun to bear fruit.

"Space Exploration Editorial Department": presents the fresh vitality of soft science fiction

"Space Exploration Editorial Department" won many awards at the 5th Pingyao International Film Festival and the 12th Beijing International Film Festival, with a Douban score of 8.3 points. The film tells the story of Tang Zhijun, the editor-in-chief of a science fiction magazine who has been obsessed with finding extraterrestrial civilizations for decades, claiming to have received abnormal signals from the universe, and he gathered like-minded people to embark on a westward journey in search of aliens. In the misty southwest mountains, they meet all kinds of people, from farmers who claim to have witnessed aliens and preserved their remains, to strange young men with a "signal pot" on their heads; They saw stone lions covered with sparrows, mossy circular flying machines... Whether there are mysterious signals and whether there are aliens, these ultimate questions gradually echo in the mountains...

"Space Exploration Editorial Department": presents the fresh vitality of soft science fiction
"Space Exploration Editorial Department": presents the fresh vitality of soft science fiction

When it comes to science fiction films, audiences often associate them with high-investment film industry blockbusters, but "Space Exploration Editorial Department" chooses to "travel light": young creators jump out of the traditional framework, borrow the popular pseudo-documentary + retro style, mix comedy, highway, science fiction and other multiple elements, and complete a work that looks strange, carefully imagined and has a science fiction imagination and social and humanistic reflection.

The title is inspired by the classic sitcom "The Story of the Editorial Office" in the 90s of the 20th century, in which the editorial office of "Space Exploration" is next door to the magazine "Human Guide". The realistic prototype of "Space Exploration" is the popular book "UFO Exploration", which is an iconic symbol of imagination and romance belonging to that era.

"Space Exploration Editorial Department": presents the fresh vitality of soft science fiction

The hero is the editor-in-chief of a science fiction magazine, and his life is destitute. Tang Zhijun, who is obsessed with finding clues of aliens, will see the snowflake dots flickering on the screen when the TV has no signal as a signal from the depths of the universe, comparing it to the afterglow at the birth of the universe. And poetry has also become an important carrier to express the protagonist of the later part of the story, the "psychic boy" Sun Yitong. Similar to Tang Zhijun, Sun Yitong is also a strange person who is out of step with the world, he has a "signal pot" on his head, and also writes poems that point to the meaning of life and the ultimate universe. This makes the later part of the film, like the sci-fi version of "Roadside Picnic", also close to the carnival and lonely atmosphere of Emir Kusturica's film. Tang Zhijun's pursuit of extraterrestrial life leads to an emotional estrangement between him and his daughter, and the grand universe is subtly connected with the small individual. Science fiction, here, has a different flavor.

"Space Exploration Editorial Department": presents the fresh vitality of soft science fiction

If the "Wandering Earth" series has set a benchmark for domestic hard sci-fi blockbusters and grown into a leafy tree, then the "Space Exploration Editorial Department" sprouted in the shade of this tree proves with low cost and creativity that Chinese soft sci-fi also has fresh vitality - they are all an important part of the future Chinese sci-fi genre.

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