KOKI, a short film named created by Wang Shuyang, a 25-year-old woman from Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province, will be shown at the Cannes Film Festival this May.
KOKI tells the story of a boy who loses his way in the forest one night and meets a beautiful girl transformed from a fox. The girl leads him to a brightly lit road and eventually turns back into a fox.
"I wanted to express the love and harmony between humans and nature," said the New York-based Wang, who believes love is the permanent theme among all human beings.
The film includes many Chinese elements such as the fox-girl, which is based on a traditional Chinese fairy tale.
"I didn't mean to use Chinese culture in the film," Wang said. "The image just came into my mind when I was preparing the story. I think those elements are rooted in every Chinese."
As Wang's graduate work, the 125-second film took her 18 months from preparation to completion.
"She is a hard-working girl," said Wang's mother. "She's never gone to bed before midnight since she entered the School of Visual Arts in New York."
The film will be exhibited at the Cannes festival’s short film unit, which was initiated in 2011 to encourage more young artists to join the film industry.
