Director 導演 | Chia-Hui Lu 盧佳慧 Wen-Chieh Chang 張文杰
Production 製作| Egret Cultural and Educational Foundation 白鷺鷥文教基金會
Taiwan 台灣 | VR Interactive, 360 | 23.5 min | Mandarin, English, French 中英法文
2026 NewImages Festival Official Selection
XR Competition | XR Distribution Market
SUNFLOWER-Rondo for the Celestial
No one remains a bystander in this immersive VR cycle of trauma and redemption. Born from global tension and war, a pianist composes a rondo as a daughter’s cry to the silent heavens, seeking answers from her late father, a fighter for democracy. As the five-part Rondo spirals through the Circle of Fifths across twelve keys. Participants are drawn into her surreal dreamscape where black and white keys and Go stones clash across the music. The past, present, and future intertwine, inheriting memories and channeling the strength of the fallen. Witnessing suffering and resilience, carrying, protecting, and passing hope forward to future generations.
When the melody returns, will you act, harm, or remain still in the new cycle? This experience reflects on the strength of the will and the persistent courage to hope.
Artist / Director’s Statement
Trauma and Anxiety
My childhood was torn apart under the shadow of authoritarianism rule during the White Terror period of my country. My father, Dr. Hsiu-Yi Lu, was subjected to fabricated charges and sentenced to compulsory re-education, leading our family fragmented and broken. In those days of isolation and helplessness, music and dreams became my only outlet; the flowers and plants growing silently in my grandmother’s garden became the first form of hope in my heart. Those deeply rooted fears did not dissipate with time; rather, it reignited the moment the Russia invaded Ukraine.
War and Authoritarianism
When UNESCO World Heritage sites are destroyed in war, such as the Odessa Transfiguration Cathedral (aka the “Pearl of the Black Sea,” recreated in this work), and the National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater suffering damages, civilization crumbles. With the Russia-Ukraine war unresolved, Middle East conflicts escalate, and tensions brew in the Taiwan Strait, the fear of a world war surge. I hope to use this rondo as a message to the silent heavens, to seek guidance through a symbolic reconnection with my late father.
In this VR cycle, the struggle between oppressor and resistor remains unresolved across eras. Victims stand as hollow, petrified figures, stripped of nationality and skin, reduced to primal dignity and pain. War and authoritarianism has never been extinguished by the passage of time.
Echoes from Beyond
Structurally, the “Circle of Fifths” and the “Five-part Rondo” not only represent the cyclic (or rotating) nature of musical tonality and form, but also spiritually fill the absence of my father, making our family of five whole again. I hope to summon my father through these interlocking frequencies. Though this reunion is destined to be unfulfilled, within these recurring dreams, I transform my displaced longing into echoes reaching beyond.
Equality, Freedom, Democracy
SUNFLOWER reminds us that freedom is forged through suffering, sacrifice, and the lost of countless lives. It must never be taken for granted. Those before us did not fight simply to survive, but to build a world rooted in equality, freedom, and democracy. This longing transcends time and borders, carried forward by every generation.
Light of Hope
As you enter SUNFLOWER, you are no longer a bystander, but part of the cycle. Through sowing the seeds of hope, you embody the defiance of an elderly Eastern European woman who placed seeds in the pockets of invading soldiers, telling them that when they fall in battle, their bodies will nurture the soil from which sunflowers will bloom.
May we continue to choose the light—never yielding, until we grasp it, and become it.
官方入選 2026 法國「新影像藝術節」XR 競賽與發行市場雙單元
《向暘—寫給天國的迴旋曲》
在這場關於創傷與救贖的沉浸VR輪迴中，沒人能置身事外。源自全球緊張局勢與戰爭的憂懼，一位鋼琴家將憂思化作曲，遙祭已故的民主鬥士父親，向沉默天國吶喊，渴望得到回應。參與者被捲入她的超現實夢境中，循五度圈穿越十二調性的五段式迴旋曲，在黑白琴鍵、棋局、時空裡交鋒；見證戰火廢墟的苦難與反抗，承繼殞落捍衛者的勇氣，將希望傳遞給未來世代。
旋律回歸，循環重新開始。你選擇行動，還是緘默？這場體驗，是對韌性、勇氣與希望的叩問。
創作者 / 導演的話：
創傷與憂思
我的童年，在白色恐怖的威權陰影下被強行撕裂。父親盧修一博士遭羅織罪名、處以強制感化，一家人被迫分崩離析。在那孤立無援的日子裡，音樂與夢境成了我唯一的出口；外婆園中靜默生長的花草，成了我心中「希望」最初的模樣。那些深植於心的恐懼，並未隨時間消散，反而在俄烏戰火點燃之際，化為對當代局勢的深重憂思。
戰爭與極權
當聯合國教科文組織世界文化遺產在戰爭中被摧毀，如作品中重現的「黑海明珠」敖德薩主顯聖容主教座堂，以及同樣受創的國立學術歌劇與芭蕾舞劇院。在俄烏戰事未平、中東衝突加劇、台海局勢緊張，對於世界大戰爆發的恐憂遽增之際，盼透過迴旋曲遙寄天國，試圖與逝去的父親建立連結，尋求答案。
作品中，黑白琴鍵與棋子的跨時空對弈，象徵壓迫者與反抗者間的永恆生死搏鬥。受難者被鑄成素面的石化肉身，褪去國籍與膚色，僅餘最原始的尊嚴與痛楚—戰爭與極權的殘酷，從未因時代推進而消亡。
彼岸的迴響
結構上，「五度圈」與「五段式迴旋曲」不只是音樂調性與曲式的輪旋，更在精神上補齊了缺席的父親，讓「一家五口」重歸完整。我盼透過環環相扣的頻率召喚父親，與之團圓。儘管註定是場未竟的重逢，仍想將無處安放的思念，在一場場迴夢裡，化作一聲聲彼岸的迴響。
平等、自由與民主
《向暘》提醒我們，自由絕非理所當然，是無數生命的苦難與犧牲所換得。前人追求的不僅是生存，而是一個平等、自由與民主的世界；這份渴望超越世代與國界，是人類共同的心願。
希望之光
當你進入《向暘》，不再只是旁觀者，而是成為循環的一部分。透過「播種」的互動，體現源自東歐戰地老婦將種子放入侵略者口袋的勇氣—陣亡化為泥，開出遍地向日葵。
期許《向暘》在動盪時代中給予力量；願我們持續選擇向暘—永不放棄光，直到抓住光，成為光。