43-year-old Maleonn is one of China’s most influential conceptual artists today. His father, Ma Ke, was the artistic director of the Shanghai Chinese Opera Theater. After being humiliated and forbidden from working for a decade during the Cultural Revolution, Ma Ke immersed himself in theater. The mysterious excitement of Ma Ke’s creative world inspired the young Maleonn, but his father’s absences stoked early feelings of resentment.
When Ma Ke is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, Maleonn pours everything into an ambitious new theater project: “Papa’s Time Machine,” a visually stunning time-travel adventure told with human-sized puppets. At the play’s heart are autobiographical scenes inspired by Maleonn’s memories with his father. He hopes this will bring them together artistically and personally.
- Year2019
- Runtime81 min
- LanguageChinese (Mandarin) with English subtitles
- CountryChina
- PremiereTribeca Film Festival (New York City,2019 Tribeca - Winner, Best Cinematography in a Documentary Feature
- RatingNot Rated
- DirectorYang Sun & S. Leo Chiang
- Executive ProducerJean Tsien, Sally Jo Fifer, Nick Fraser
- Co-ProducerViolet Du Feng, Qingzeng Cai, Sharky Wang
- CastMaleonn, Ma Ke, Zheng Wei Tong, Ma Duo, Tianyi Huang, and Makuji the Puppet
- CinematographerYang Sun, Shuang Liang
- EditorBo Li
- Sound DesignJoe Milner
- MusicPaul Brill
43-year-old Maleonn is one of China’s most influential conceptual artists today. His father, Ma Ke, was the artistic director of the Shanghai Chinese Opera Theater. After being humiliated and forbidden from working for a decade during the Cultural Revolution, Ma Ke immersed himself in theater. The mysterious excitement of Ma Ke’s creative world inspired the young Maleonn, but his father’s absences stoked early feelings of resentment.
When Ma Ke is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, Maleonn pours everything into an ambitious new theater project: “Papa’s Time Machine,” a visually stunning time-travel adventure told with human-sized puppets. At the play’s heart are autobiographical scenes inspired by Maleonn’s memories with his father. He hopes this will bring them together artistically and personally.
- Year2019
- Runtime81 min
- LanguageChinese (Mandarin) with English subtitles
- CountryChina
- PremiereTribeca Film Festival (New York City,2019 Tribeca - Winner, Best Cinematography in a Documentary Feature
- RatingNot Rated
- DirectorYang Sun & S. Leo Chiang
- Executive ProducerJean Tsien, Sally Jo Fifer, Nick Fraser
- Co-ProducerViolet Du Feng, Qingzeng Cai, Sharky Wang
- CastMaleonn, Ma Ke, Zheng Wei Tong, Ma Duo, Tianyi Huang, and Makuji the Puppet
- CinematographerYang Sun, Shuang Liang
- EditorBo Li
- Sound DesignJoe Milner
- MusicPaul Brill