Birthday cake was introduced to China in the late Qing Dynasty around the early 20th century. As a symbol of Western culture and commodity economy, its popularity is closely related to the political climate of the modern and contemporary era. Inspired by food anthropology, this essayistic archive film investigates the spread and localization of birthday cakes and their associated rituals in modern China and overseas Chinese communities.
China, 2024, 26 min, Mandarin/ English/ Cantonese with English and Bulgarian subtitles
Director: Shengjia Zhang
Scriptwriter: Shengjia Zhang
DOP: Shengjia Zhang
Мusic: Shengjia Zhang
Director’s Biography:
Shengjia Zhang is a multimedia artist and filmmaker from Guangdong, China. As the winner of the Dean’s Award, Zhang graduated from Central Saint Martins with an MA in Fine Art in 2022, supported by the Mona Hatoum Bursary. His film was nominated for Silver Dove Award at DOK Leipzig and the CIRFA Awards for Bridging East and West in Venice.