Light Pillar directed by Xu Zao will open the Red Lotus Asian Film Festival which will take place from April 23 – 26, 2026 in Vienna, Austria.

Opening Night
April 23, 2026 | Thursday | Stadtkino | 18:30 pm

Light Pillar by Xu Zao – China | 2026 – 90 minutes

The future. Winter. Space travel is no longer a dream. A lonely janitor tends the grounds of a dilapidated bankrupt film studio with only a former cat actor for company until he embarks on a romantic journey with a female player in a beautiful virtual world. (Mubi)

Trailer:

About the director:
Xu Zao, born in 1991 in Anshan in Northeast of China, is a screenwriter, director, and production designer. He earned a master’s degree from the School of Fine Arts at the Beijing Film Academy. His animated short No Changes Have Taken In Our Life (2023) premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and received multiple awards at festivals such as DOK Leipzig, Image Forum Festival, and Feinaki Beijing Animation Week. His second short, Love Music Friend (2025), competed at the Shanghai International Film Festival. Light Pillar is his debut feature and premiered at the Berlinale 2026 in Perspectives.

For more information, please visit: https://red-lotus.org/en