Art Exhibit Shows Award-Winning Documentary ‘Eternal Spring’ at Reception

Small poster cards for the film “Eternal Spring” at a library in Milpitas, Calif., on Jan. 21, 2023. Cynthia Cai/The Epoch Times

MILPITAS, Calif.—The Classical Arts Foundation, a nonprofit aiming to preserve and nurture the classical arts, hosted a reception and showing for the award-winning film “Eternal Spring” at the Milpitas library on Jan. 21, ahead of the Lunar New Year.

The reception and film showing was part of the foundation’s art exhibit inside the library.

“The Zhen, Shan, Ren exhibit has seven themes. One of them is about the persecution in China,” Adele Wang, a board member of the Classical Arts Foundation, told the audience during the reception. “We are showing the film because Daxiong [who worked on the film] is an artist. The film also talks about the persecution, so we thought it works well with the [art] exhibit.”

People watch “Eternal Spring” at a library in Milpitas, Calif., on Jan. 21, 2023. Cynthia Cai/The Epoch Times

“Eternal Spring” was directed by Jason Loftus in collaboration with comic artist Daxiong. The Mandarin and English dual language film combines both animation and in-person interviews to retell the story of the television broadcast hijacking event in Changchun, China, in March 2002.

It follows a small group of people as they tap into a state-controlled television broadcast to share the truth about Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa), a meditation practice guided by the values of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.

As depicted in the film, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched a persecution campaign in 1999 against Falun Gong. Many adherents have since been subjected to imprisonment, torture, abuse, and organ harvesting.

The story is based on the true, personal accounts of persecution the small group faced as they attempted to raise awareness of the CCP’s continued repression of ethnic and religious groups.

People wait for an art exhibition reception in Milpitas, Calif., on Jan. 21, 2023. Cynthia Cai/The Epoch Times

Audience members at the reception praised the film’s educational value and storytelling.

“This film is a very good textbook, an educational film that all Chinese people should see to clearly understand the true nature of the communist regime,” Roger Tzi told The Epoch Times in Chinese.

He said the CCP opposes personal and spiritual beliefs and will do anything to instill fear into the Chinese people to make them follow the regime. He said he hopes more Chinese people can see the film to learn more about what’s happening under the CCP’s rule.

Painting prints on a table during an art exhibition reception in Milpitas, Calif., on Jan. 21, 2023. Cynthia Cai/The Epoch Times

The animated documentary was selected to represent Canada for the “best international feature film” entry in the upcoming 95th Academy Awards.

“It was nominated for the Oscars,” Yung Tran, a board member of the Classical Arts Foundation, said during the reception. “It’s very encouraging for [the filmmakers].”

“Eternal Spring” has received 15 awards since its release last March on the 20th anniversary of the TV signal-tapping event.

Loftus said there’s something universal about stories that show people standing up in the face of adversity.

“I think that people will resonate with it, regardless of whether they have a particular interest in the Chinese human rights situation,” Loftus told NTD Television, sister media of The Epoch Times, in 2022.