Lengshuijiang, a small city in Hunan Province, was built around the Xikuangshan mine, once known for the world’s largest deposit of antimony and as the “antimony capital of the world.” During the two world wars, this isolated mountain region exported nearly 80 percent of the world’s antimony products.
Antimony Capital News was originally a documentary news program produced by the local television station. In the film, early broadcast footage is intertwined with images from the set of The Local Records of China - The Chapter of Lengshuijiang, creating a timeless narrative in which the reality and continuity of “news” no longer exist. What remains are images that say little beyond the process of their own birth.
Process notes
The work begins with local television archive from Lengshuijiang and the Xikuangshan mining region, but it does not treat the archive as a transparent record. By cutting the early Antimony Capital News footage against the film set of The Local Records of China - The Chapter of Lengshuijiang, the work turns regional news language into a visible production mechanism: the place is being narrated, staged, and made useful at the same time.
I keep both sides of that mechanism in the same cut: the anchor reading the town back to itself, and the antimony being dug, smelted and shipped out from under it. Set side by side, the broadcast and the mine begin to rhyme — the news is its own kind of extraction, pulling one usable image out of a place and leaving the rest underground.
Festivals / screenings
- 2023, KUANDU Film Festival, Taipei, Taiwan
- 2022, Image Forum Festival, Tokyo, Japan
- 2021, Made in China Festival, Rennes, France
- 2021, Mǎo International Film Week, Guangzhou, China
- 2020, Tokyo Lift-off Film Festival, Tokyo, Japan
- 2020, Beijing International Short Film Festival, Beijing, China
- 2020, 22nd Belo Horizonte International Short Film Festival, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
- 2020, It’s All True International Documentary Film Festival, São Paulo, Brazil
Exhibitions
- 2024, Pathway of Life, Outside Art Space, Beijing, China
- 2023, Fluidscape, Unique Art Center, Chengdu, China
- 2021, Poem and Video Art, Jiazazhi, Ningbo, China
- 2020, Bruxelles Art Fair, Galerie Insula, Bruxelles, Belgium
- 2019, La mue de l'arc, Atelier Berger Milà, Paris, France
- 2019, Panorama 21, Le Fresnoy, Tourcoing, France
- 2018, Les saturnales invaincues, Atelier Berger Milà, Paris, France
- 2017, How Do you Know Tomorrow Has Started If There's No Night?, Villa Belleville, Paris, France
- 2016, S'embarquer sans biscuits, Centre d'art Passerelle, Brest, France
- 2016, Where is the beef?, Salon Mondial, Basel, Switzerland
- 2016, Espèces d'espace, Centre d'art Le commun, Genève, Switzerland
- 2015, La balade du crime, Espace Saint Martin, Lausanne, Switzerland
- 2015, μῆτις - the skill in my hand, Standard Deluxe, Lausanne, Switzerland
- 2015, Open studio, Atelier Suisse, Fonderie Darling, Montréal, Canada
Links / references
- Le Fresnoy: Antimony Capital News Official Le Fresnoy project record.
- BISFF official selection: Antimony Capital News Official Beijing International Short Film Festival film page.
- Shanyu Zhong: 另类的归乡：谈刘广隶的《锑都新闻》 Long-form Chinese essay on Antimony Capital News in the context of Pathway of Life.
- Caixin New Voice: Liu Guangli Caixin New Voice interview in which Liu Guangli discusses the origin and archive material of the film.
- BCAF New Voice: Liu Guangli BCAF interview mentioning Antimony Capital News among Liu Guangli's works on history and image systems.
- CathayPlay: Liu Guangli CathayPlay director page listing Antimony Capital News / Nouvelles de la Capitale d'Antimoine.
- Images en bibliothèques: Nouvelles de la capitale d'Antimoine French documentary library record for the film, with production and screening information.
- Images en bibliothèques: Made in China 2021 Made in China 2021 programme record listing the film.
- É Tudo Verdade 2020: International Short Films Official English press release listing Antimony Capital News in the international short-film competition.
- Cenas de Cinema: É Tudo Verdade anuncia 2ª Fase Brazilian film-news article listing the film in the É Tudo Verdade international shorts competition.
- Sina: Image Forum Festival Chinese youth cinema programme Chinese article on Image Forum Festival's Chinese youth cinema programme, discussing Antimony Capital News in the Acts of Remembering section.