Republic

From the street, Li Eryang’s “Republic” is barely visible, a little room that appears to have been left as a tiny cavity between the surrounding houses. Despite its inconspicuous appearance from the outside, on the inside it’s huge. A hiding place, a home base and an experiment all rolled into one. With lots of time and passion, scarves and coloured light, Eryang has created a free space for himself and his “Cosmic Bros”. Anyone who comes by, comes by and becomes a citizen of a society with humanistic laws. The repressive social credit system of the People’s Republic is left at the door. With psychedelic music and a few mind-expanding drugs, hippiedom, capitalism and Xi Jinping can all be harmonised on a sofa and mattress. The money you need to live is under a little pyramid on the shelf. An economic miracle. But as it turns out, even here there’s no short cut, either to the idyll or to a just society. The experiment needs reworking. Jin Jiang’s documentary film shows the radical exit attempt of young adults as a tableau vivant: In the heart of Beijing, Chinese youngsters lounge and cuddle for their freedom. (Fabian Tietke)