Ascension
by Jessica Kingdon
Best Documentary Film · Tribeca 2022
Rétrospectives and Cartes Blanches 2022
Official synopsis
“Ascension” examines the contemporary "Chinese Dream". In cinematically exploring the aspiration that drives today's People's Republic of China, the film plunges into universal paradoxes of economic progress.
The programmer’s eye
Nominated for the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature in 2022, “Ascension” offers a fascinating look at Chinese society, while dissecting contemporary capitalist society and its unattainable ideal. Jessica Kingdon's talent lies in her ability to show the submission of an entire society to a model that stands beyond it. From the workers to the wealthiest classes, may they be busy sculpting the bodies of inflatable dolls or smiling in a fake way, the populations initiate a distancing from a humanity to which the film holds up a critical and almost… funny mirror, because it seems so lucid in its tragic cynicism.
Natacha Seweryn
Biography and Filmography
New York-based Jessica Kingdon is a Chinese-American director and producer who was named one of “25 New Faces of Independent Film” (2017) by Filmmaker Magazine and selected for the 2020 DOC NYC “40 Under 40” list. Her award-winning short Commodity City (2017) is an observational documentary about the world’s largest wholesale mall in Yiwu, China. She co-directed the short “It’s Coming!” (2020), which was supported by Rooftop Films, and is currently playing festivals “Routine Island” (2019), which is included in The Eyeslicer Season 2. She is a member of the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective.
2021 : ASCENSION - Jessica Kingdon - Director
2020 : IT’S COMING! (SHORT) - Jessica Kingdon - Director
2019 : ROUTINE ISLAND (SHORT) - Jessica Kingdon - Director
2017 : COMMODITY CITY (SHORT) - Jessica Kingdon - Director
by Jessica Kingdon
New York-based Jessica Kingdon is a Chinese-American director and producer who was named one of “25 New Faces of Independent Film” (2017) by Filmmaker Magazine and selected for the 2020 DOC NYC “40 Under 40” list. Her award-winning short Commodity City (2017) is an observational documentary about the world’s largest wholesale mall in Yiwu, China. She co-directed the short “It’s Coming!” (2020), which was supported by Rooftop Films, and is currently playing festivals “Routine Island” (2019), which is included in The Eyeslicer Season 2. She is a member of the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective.
2021 : ASCENSION - Jessica Kingdon - Director
2020 : IT’S COMING! (SHORT) - Jessica Kingdon - Director
2019 : ROUTINE ISLAND (SHORT) - Jessica Kingdon - Director
2017 : COMMODITY CITY (SHORT) - Jessica Kingdon - Director