Jason Loftus's Animated Documentary 'Eternal Spring' Explores Falun Gong Memories

Jason Loftus's 2022 documentary 'Eternal Spring' employs animation to explore memory and trauma through the story of Chinese illustrator Daxiong, a Falun Gong practitioner who fled China after the group's 2002 television broadcast hijacking. The film follows Daxiong, now in North America, as he reconstructs memories of that event through interviews with other practitioners worldwide, including organizer Mr. White. Animation modeled on Daxiong's ink illustrations blends with live-action footage, creating scenes like the planning at a Changchun KFC. Loftus previously codirected 'Ask No Questions' (2020) about Falun Gong and produced 'Human Harvest' (2014) on organ harvesting allegations. The film has been criticized for omitting controversial aspects of Falun Gong, such as founder Li Hongzhi's views on aliens, allegations of racism, and connections to Shen Yun and The Epoch Times, which spread alt-right misinformation. Despite this, emotional power emerges in nostalgic animated scenes of Daxiong's childhood in Changchun, where Falun Gong was founded in 1992. The documentary joins other animated works like Ari Folman's 'Waltz with Bashir' (2008) and Jonas Poher Rasmussen's 'Flee' (2021) in using the medium to depict fragmented memories.