V E S A K

A TECHNO-BUDDHIST FUTURE

On the day of Vesak, the biggest Buddhist festival in South and Southeast Asia, a monk carries out annual prayer rites at the Quantum Temple. Artifacts that belong to the past and foretell the future swirl overhead in a hyper-fictional topography made up of hill fort homes, geodesic monuments, haunting projections, and gigantic fish.

Vesak may be a real festival where millions of people around the world celebrate the birth of Buddha, but director Ina Chen has grafted its reverence and animism onto a game-driven world that shifts between fiction and reality.

Director
Producer
Writers
Composer & Sound Design
Creature Concept Design
Costume Design
Graphic Design
Reel Composer
Special Thanks

Ina Chen
Liam Young
Calvin Sin, Ina Chen
Santiago Amezquita
Taketo Kobayashi
Mengze Zheng
Xi Li, OIIA
Samaquias Lorta
Alexey Marfin

Working with composer Santiago Amézquita, co-writer Calvin Sin, and speculative architect Liam Young, Ina Chen leverages cutting-edge technology to construct a world that tells untold stories through CGI and immersive media.

Each frame of this film permeates with mythical symbols and narrative; traditional fish-releasingis transformed into the releasing of drones, and the visualization of the festival is loosely based on sutras. Vesak confronts the stereotypical and flattened narrative of Buddhist philosophy and critiques kitsch Asianaesthetics through its use of ambitious visuals. It is a time capsule blending histories, languages, and music to reflect the plasticity of culture.

VESAK has toured numerous festivals and platforms. It premiered at the NOWNESS China New Talent Awards, an initiative highlighting the emerging generation of Chinese directors. The film was selected as a finalist among 11 other works, showcasing innovative technical approaches and fresh narrative methods that explore the diverse possibilities of video media.

Since then, Vesak has been featured at Art Basel Hong Kong, the K11 Art Festival, the European Short Film Festival, the New York & LA Shorts International Film Festival, and the Glasgow Short Film Festival, earning awards at the Indie Short Fest in Los Angeles.