Andrew Thomas Huang has released the trailer for his new work Kiss of the Rabbit God, a short film which premieres on 25 April at the Tribeca Film Festival. The short is Huang’s first narrative film as a Cinereach Fellow.

The film explores the sexual awakening and self discovery of a young Chinese restaurant worker, who goes on an expansive journey after falling in love with a Qing dynasty god, the Tu-er Shen 兔兒神). The surreal and opulent work reflects on desire and temptation, choice and boundaries, the spirit and the flesh.

Kiss of the Rabbit God follows Huang’s recent work as creative director of Björk Digital, the acclaimed VR exhibition which presented visuals to accompany songs from Björk’s eighth studio album Vulnicura. Influences from Björk Digital infuse the new work - notably, the video to one of the tracks, Black Lake, informed the aesthetic of the short.

The 38 second trailer to the film has now been released ahead of the premiere at Tribeca, where it will show as part of the Manhattan festival’s N.O.W’s Headspace program.  The N.O.W program showcases innovative work created for online audiences. The Headspace program focuses in particular on filmmakers who challenge aesthetic and narrative boundaries.

Kiss of the Rabbit God was commissioned by NOWNESS with support from Cinereach. Icelandic film producer Sara Nassim worked with Huang on the film, and cinematography was by Rina Yang.