Reel Asian is proud to co-present Luo Li’s debut narrative feature, I Went to the Zoo the Other Day, at the 23rd edition of the Images Festival! Norm Wilner gives the film his equivalent of a four-star rating (out of five) in NOW Magazine and Eye Weekly lists it as one of the "must sees" of the festival.  Born in China and based in Hamilton, Luo Li screened the North American première of his very first film, Stills, at Reel Asian in 2004. His stunning watercolour animation, Birds, also screened that year as a world première.  In 2005, Li returned with Ornithology, set to a score by Charlie Parker and Bennie Harris.

I Went to the Zoo the Other Day
Dir: Luo Li | Canada 2009 | 69min | View trailer
Friday April 2nd, 7 - 8 PM | Workman Arts, St. Anne’s Parish Hall (651 Dufferin St.)
Admission: Pay What You Can

On the surface, a fictional portrait of two friends and the day of their visit to the Toronto Zoo, I Went to the Zoo the Other Day may conclude with our protagonists, but it does not begin with them. Instead, the first shot is of the glass enclosure of an exhibit, a surface that reflects the sounds and images of the collected viewers passing by as much as it provides a fluid space for a one-way gaze. Thus unpacking the conditions of exhibition and viewership that inform not only the institution of the title, but the cinema it is encountered in.

In addition to Luo Li's work, there are some other works at this year's Images Festival by leading Asian art stars - download the PDF here, or visit the Images Festival website for more details.