2013
HD, Sound | English with Chinese subtitles | 8’50” | Produced on the occasion of 'Does Europe Matter?' at the Pavilion, Beijing as part of the 'Europe n' project. | Co-Production: Vitamin Creative Space

“We grew up believing we are the center of the world, seeing the world through the eyes we have, understanding the world through the mind and one view only – one understanding. We – I?
…
A little less pressure, a little less status competition.
…
Not taking, taking, taking…”
‘The Center of the World’ was filmed in Beijing in April 2013 depicting a white collar office worker. A man in his early thirties – the first single-child-generation in China. A typical good looking face that is smiling at us from advertisings and TV-Soaps, looking familiar yet exchangeable.
Representing a new image of an idealized urban successful booming China.
The protagonist reflects on these social urban pressures, family expectations as a single-child, he reflects on his status competition and the definition of success and failure.
A film on the idea neoliberalism and its Olympic motto of ‘Citus, Altius, Fortius’ (Latin: Faster, Higher, Stronger). On a country at the rising and countries at the edge of collapse, on a generation filled with hope, that is expected to succeed and a generation lost and struggling with the burden of the past, the disillusion of the present and a dim future. A pyramid structured society, from rags to riches, the American dream and the present/future of China.
“More and more, more is better, improving, profit maximization and increase. One view above all the rest. Constant competition, demand, failure, social pressure and lost hopes”

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