Ascension

Film phase:Completed

SYNOPSIS

Ascension examines the contemporary “Chinese Dream” through staggering observations of labor, consumerism and wealth. In cinematically exploring the aspiration that drives today’s People’s Republic of China, the film plunges into universal paradoxes of economic progress.

Ascension is a participant of the 2019 (Egg)celerator Lab.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Jessica Kingdon is in front of a lake. She is gently smiling. Her hair is curly, and she wears a blazer and a top. Portrait in black and white.Jessica Kingdon is a Chinese-American director/producer named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film in 2017. Her award-winning Vimeo Staff Pick short Commodity City shot in Yiwu, China is an observational documentary about the world’s largest wholesale mall. It was shortlisted for a Cinema Eye Honor and has played at over 50 film festivals. Her upcoming feature documentary Ascension is a SFFilm Doc Fund recipient and participated in the 2017 Spotlight on Documentary IFP Film Week. Her upcoming short Routine Island, about the new Chinese middle class on vacation on an island in Micronesia, is an Eyeslicer Radical Film Fund recipient. Past residencies include the Points North Institute Shortform Editing Residency, the Artist Academy at the New York Film Festival, the UnionDocs Editing Residency, and the UnionDocs Lab. Producer credits include The Waterslide, directed by Nathan Truesdell, which premiered at True/False in 2018; Old Stone, directed by Johnny Ma, which premiered at the Berlinale 2016; and the upcoming For Entertainment Purposes Only, directed by Colin Healey. Jessica is a member of the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective.