This film is inspired by the architecture of the M+ Museum in Hong Kong, questioning the conventional definition of a museum as such by taking it out of its context and regarding it as a pure object. A complex interplay of geometrical forms, inspired by the interior of the Hong Kong museum building, refers to the elementary structures that determine our material world.

Narrated by the incarnate ghost of a deceased real hair donor. In the post-war era, the export of real hair wigs contributed to Asia’s economic development, with Hong Kong as a major hub. In its heyday in the 1960s, “Asian real hair” was popular with wealthy U.S. women, but then the USA imposed an embargo on the product, now classified as “communist hair”. This is where the intricate and innovatively realised story begins: Starting with complex economical and sociopolitical contexts, it weaves a thread that runs through various historical and dreamlike staged levels.

Hong Kong was and is a space of in-between-ness – between East and West, between communism and capitalism. Perhaps that is why there are so many spooks in the city, one protagonist speculates. Just like the well-travelled ghost, an eternally wandering entity and contemporary witness of an imperial and colonialist past.

We would not be surprised if this multiple-award winning, internationally acclaimed, and extremely charming film were to be found in an encyclopaedia under the entry “colourful”. Protean shapes in dynamic motion visualise the rhythm of a lively piece of music, leaping like fireworks from the textured black background and animating the screen.

A contemporary answer to the avant-garde experiments of the 20th century. Once, artists like Oskar Fischinger drew graphic elements on the optical soundtrack of film strips to produce unexpected tones. Max Hattler turns the whole image into an optical soundtrack that directly translates into audio. Abstract movement becomes noise. What you hear is what you see.