"Spring wind will bring life again" is a portrait of Beijing today - a video essay, in three parts, exploring this pivotal moment in the city's history. Each of the film's three parts takes a different perspective on the central notion of metamorphosis, and how (or whether) change can be understood as we experience it. In Part I, some of the prevailing myths about life in Beijing versus life in the West are challenged, and questions are raised about the definition of a "good standard of living". Part II considers China's economic ascendancy, and explores its international reach and influence even as the outside world exerts its own reach and influence on China. Finally, Part III details how commerce continues to reshape the face of an ancient nation, and how rituals and structures of life find ways to adapt to the exigencies of change. Overall, the film questions the role of the U.S. in these global shifts, and whether doctrines like to "make the world in our own image" could come back to haunt us.
—Amelia Bryne