This film tells the complex experience of "studying abroad" in the context of the commodification of transnational education.  

As a “one-year passer-by”, the director elaborated on the ambiguous status of today's international students wandering between “marginal people” and “internationals”. Starting with why it is so hard for Chinese creators to penetrate the layer of “accumulation” to see the world from a greater height, to what the truth and essence of studying abroad is.  

How to gain something in the British education system that is dominated by economic efficiency? 

Is it true that most people today agree that the significance of transnational education lies not just in the acquisition of knowledge, but that the life experience and cross-cultural exchanges that accompany it are the most valuable things we pay for? 

Is the "Motherland" a solid spiritual fortress, or a shackle that restricts people's lives abroad? 

What is the boundary between “passers-by” and “marginal people”? 

How long does a person have this "marginal" status? Or is it something that stays with them for a lifetime?   

How can you penetrate this layer of "accumulation" to see the world from a greater height? Is it possible to bypass national identity and go directly to the essence of human beings? Will there be people who naturally do not have obstacles to cultural identity and spiritual belonging? 

This film encourages people to reexamine the transnational education system by depicting the real dilemma. The journey is depicted through the dissection of personal experience, in an attempt to illustrate the big, common issues in small narratives.

Links: https://vimeo.com/865067540?share=copy

Oushi  Lin (CN) (b. 1999) now lives and works on land and artificial land. Her practice often revolves around subtle emotions and anomalies in daily life, using the construction of parallel worlds to try to create a thought-provoking "space" between text and image. Her film was selected for several festivals worldwide including BFI Future Film Festival (2024), Animation Dingle (2024), Toronto Film Week (2024), and FEINAKI Beijing Animation Week (2023) and won the Best Animation Award at the London Super Short Film Festival (2023).

The film explores the experience of a Chinese international student who spends a year in the UK and sheds light on the challenges of identity, belonging, and cultural displacement. The artist behind this personal film raises a crucial question of whether international students are being exploited as resources or are genuinely benefiting from the system. Although the film focuses on a specific narrative, it delves into broader themes of immigration and outsiderhood. By showcasing the struggle of identical closed-eyed ragdolls pushed through the system, the film urges viewers to examine the complexities of the system and its implications. The film's raw and honest portrayal will resonate with anyone who has ever felt like an outsider.