Touqi

In an attempt to conduct conventional analog photographic processes with a modern twist, Ran incorporates innovative tools such as 3d-printing and laser cutting in his MRP project, "Touqi," an experimental documentary film that aims to recreate memories through alternate processes of analog 16mm film.

Focusing on themes such as the passing of family members and mourning, "The Chinese Apparition in Minnesota" is a film that reflects upon the filmmaker's sense of belonging and connection with his homeland as an Asian diaspora in North America. The film recreates the archives and memories of past Chinese immigrants (the filmmaker’s grandparents) using current surrogates and physical 16mm motion-picture film. Overtly forefronting its creation process and medium, this project juxtaposes the limitation of physical analog images and digital imagery’s equal inability to define realism. Techniques such as 3D Printing and laser cutting were used to modify existing analog film processes and negotiate the boundary between digital imagery and the materiality of archival material.