“What is that glowing red stuff?” A new official trailer has arrived online for a mesmerizing experimental animated film from China titled A Story About Fire, originally known as 燃比娃 in Mandarin (or Ran Bi Wa). This first premiered at the 2025 Berlin Film Festival last year but has been waiting for releasing ever since. It opens in theaters in China later this month. The story is of a monkey raised by humans, who goes to a mountain to look for “fire”, and after going through numerous dangers & hardships, is transformed from a monkey into a human. Created by the Shanghai Animation Studio and director Wenyu Li as his first feature. Made using traditional hand-drawn animation with ink-wash on Xuan paper cutouts – which took them five years to complete. Loosely based on the legend of the Qiang people. When this monkey sets off to the Holy Mountain to steal fire for humankind, a journey begins from which he will return transformed into a man. With the voices of Yang Haoyu, Zhou Xun, Bei Yile, Kang Chunlei (as Doggie). Seems like something we’ve never really seen before! Unique animation with a classic Chinese tale of animals getting into trouble. // Continue Reading ›
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