Xu Zao’s Melancholic Chinese Sci-Fi Feature ‘Light Pillar’ Will Get A U.S. Theatrical Run

Melancholic Chinese animated feature Light Pillar will get a U.S. theatrical run after Greenwich Entertainment picked up North American rights following the film’s premiere earlier this year at the Berlinale.

The news was first reported by Variety, which noted that the distributor is planning a theatrical release in the early part of next year.

Written and directed by Chinese filmmaker Xu Zao, Light Pillar blends 2D animation and live-action sequences into a melancholy science-fiction story about loneliness, escapism, and the fading identity of the film industry. The feature follows a solitary janitor working at a declining movie studio who becomes increasingly immersed in a virtual reality world after receiving a VR headset.

We spoke with Xu shortly after the film’s Berlinale debut, during which he discussed the project’s origins and his decision to invert the relationship between fantasy and reality on screen. While the protagonist’s everyday life is animated, the VR sequences are presented in live action. “The film started as animation, and live-action provided a strong, direct contrast,” Xu told us. “Within the story, it’s because the janitor’s life is very boring and flat.”

Xu also explained that the hybrid format emerged partly from practical necessity. “The twenty minutes of live-action in the film took only four days to shoot, while the remaining seventy minutes of animation took a year and a half,” he said. “So it saved us both time and money.”

The director, who previously worked as a production designer in China, described the film as being shaped by his experiences visiting studio lots across the country. He cited filmmakers Jia Zhangke, Jacques Tati, and Sylvain Chomet among his influences, particularly praising Chomet’s ability to create stylized worlds grounded in emotional realism.

At the center of Light Pillar is a broader anxiety about technological change and the future of filmmaking itself. “One of the key messages of the film for me is the transformation the film industry is facing,” Xu explained. “All industries face their own stone blocks, obstacles that hinder development. We need to overcome these obstacles, or they will eventually destroy us.”