April Lin 林森 presents a dream-like journey across parallel dimensions in their speculative film that imagines a world without capitalism. One protagonist grapples with the reality of living in a capitalist world lacking in meaning. The other, living in a utopian world guided by cosmic entity Ta, reveals the possibilities of a life unbound by Western constructs of race, gender and class. The film’s title comes from ‘tā’, the monosyllabic sound which, in Mandarin, encompasses all third person pronouns: 他 (third person male), 她 (third person female), and 它 (more-than-human lifeforms and objects). As these multiple genders and modes of being are all pronounced ‘tā’, the word ‘ta’ has in recent years been reconfigured and adopted as a gender neutral pronoun. Communicating through a series of letters, the protagonists must face the realities of each others’ dimensions, shaking their understanding of their own world in the process.

In this episode, April discusses the inspirations and influences behind the film and more. 

Fringe of Colour Films is a hybrid arts festival for Black people and People of Colour. Find out more at⁠⁠⁠ fringeofcolour.co.uk⁠