Big Fish & Begonia

105 minutes

In this 2016 epic by directors Xuan Liang and Chun Zhang, an ancient Chinese legend comes to life. Put together in kaleidoscopic fashion, this off-beat and at times bizarrely beautiful animation will have you encounter celestial beings, myth and adventure in a strange but heartening tale of courage, sacrifice and redemption.

This program screened as part of KLIK Amsterdam Animation Festival 2018

Showing in this program

Big Fish & Begonia

Xuan Liang / Chun Zhang
China, 2016
104 min.

From ancient Chinese legends comes a beautiful tale of love and sacrifice. There is a mystical race of beings that control the tide and the changing of the seasons. But one of these beings, a young girl named Chun, wants to experience the human world, not simply observe it. When she turns sixteen, Chun is allowed to transform into a dolphin and explore the human world. However, she soon learns this world is a dangerous place. Chun is nearly killed in a vortex, but saved by a human boy at the cost of his own life. Moved by his kindness and courage, she decides to give the boy life again, but this power comes at a price. Chun will have to face adventure and sacrifice in order to protect the boy's soul until it is ready to return to the human world.