The connection of all elements on Earth, visible and invisible, according to Lichun Tseng, give meaning to life – albeit an undefined meaning. With that in mind, she wrote an R&D plan to film formless images, capturing the space between the visible and invisible moment: “I want the viewer to experience these ambiguous and semi-abstract images and to invite them to look beyond the definition of the filmed object, beyond its name or meaning, and to fully immerse oneself in the concentrated timeless and spaceless moment.” In this in-between space, she wanted to delve into collaboration with dancer Shay Partush. She also wanted to delve into calligraphy and haiku, in order to translate the openness and lightness of haiku into the choreography, dancing and movement and breathing.

Trained as a painter, Lichun Tseng moved to Rotterdam where she made her debut as a filmmaker in 2007 with the film Sight. She then studied at the AKV / St.Joost, founded production studio beyond the beyond and is a member of the Filmwerkplaats Rotterdam. She mainly works with 16mm and her films are screened at international film festivals and on platforms such as V2_. In 2008 she started with 100 questions: a hundred personal and universal questions that she asked people as a journey through their thinking. She also gave this assignment to Partush for this R&D study. The R&D committee read in this a special view and a beautiful new poetic approach to film.

With Partush and the camera, Tseng started looking at what can be captured in images, what wordless visual language is possible. The 100 questions were about the conscious and subconscious, calligraphy about full and empty, haiku about the moment and eternity. Because of these dualities, she chose black and white, another contrast. It provided insights into a more open working method, and into the film Remnant of echo and shadow. This was completed in 2020 and submitted for film festivals.