In a newly released 38-second trailer, Chinese American filmmaker Andrew Thomas Huang effectively showcases the seductive vision for his upcoming short “Kiss of the Rabbit God.” The film follows a young Chinese restaurant worker’s journey of sexual awakening and self-discovery after falling in love with an 18^th century Qing dynasty god named the Tu’er Shen (兔兒神).

The short film was created in support by Cinereach and commissioned by NOWNESS, a digital video channel owned by Chinese luxury publisher Modern Media and the UK’s Dazed Media. Every week, NOWNESS presents three films produced by established and emerging filmmakers about art, design, music, fashion, and more.

Andrew Huang continues to express his vision through his first narrative film as a Cinereach Fellow who specializes in shorts. Past Cinereach fellows include Academy Award winning director Barry Jenkins and Academy nominated director Zachary Heinzerling.

Huang is an experimental filmmaker and visual artist with a background in animation, live action performance, puppetry, and visual effects. His work serves to bridge the gap between video art and film while exploring distinct modes of storytelling. Huang’s work has been exhibited at NYC’s MoMA, MoMA PS1, the Barbican Centre in London, and MOCA in Los Angeles, and has been shown in Germany, Taiwan, France, South Africa, and Belgium. He has worked with artists such as Thom Yorke, FKA Twigs, director Joe Wright, and extensively with Björk.

As the creative director for the VR exhibition Björk Digital, Huang worked with Björk to showcase immersive 360-degree music videos from the Icelandic singer-songwriter’s eighth studio album Vulnicura. The installation traveled between international cities including Tokyo, Sydney, Montreal, Reykjavik, London, and Los Angeles. Below is the MoMA commissioned opening video “Black Lake” filmed in Iceland’s highlands, directed by Huang.

“Black Lake”‘s dark overtones transfer to Huang’s alluring visual aesthetic seen in the trailer for “Kiss of the Rabbit God”. Icelandic film producer Sara Nassim who is known for “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”, “Noah”, and “Game of Thrones” worked with Huang on the film. Japanese director of photography Rina Yang who worked on “Bohemian Rhapsody” was responsible for the film’s cinematography.

The film will have its worldwide premiere on April 25^th at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival. Watch the trailer for “Kiss of the Rabbit God” below: