| Killing the Chickens, to Scare the Monkeys | |
| Director: | Jens Assur |
| Producer: | Studio Jens Assur |
| Cinematography: | Marek Weiser |
| Editing: | Fredrik Morheden Åsa Mossberg |
| Runtime: | 23 minutes |
| Country: | Sweden Thailand |
| Language: | Mandarin Chinese with English subtitles |
Killing the Chickens, to Scare the Monkeys is a 2011 short film directed by Jens Assur. The story is set in the People's Republic of China and consists of nine scenes where national politics and strategy have unforeseen consequences on a young teacher's life. The first scene of the movie is a 15-minute single take, without cuts.
The movie was shot in Sweden and Thailand and it was Assur's second short as a director and writer.
The idea for the movie is based on a photograph, smuggled out of China, depicting a group of prisoners kneeling, awaiting their execution. Around the group, people can be seen chatting and even laughing.
The title paraphrases an old Chinese idiom "Kill the chicken to scare the monkey" (Chinese: 杀鸡儆猴, lit. kill chicken scare monkey), which refers to making an example out of someone in order to threaten others, in the manner of pour encourager les autres.[1] The movie implies that the Chinese government policy of executing dissidents is meant to deter others.
Directors' FortnightCannes, FranceMay 2011
Nordisk PanoramaÅrhus, Denmark
Winner Best Short
September 2011
Madrid, Spain
Special Jury Mention: Alcine
November 2011
Vendôme Film FestivalVendome, France
Winner
December 2011
Prague Short Film Festival 2012Prague, Czech Republic
Special Jury Mention
Clermont-Ferrand 2012Clermont-Ferrand, France
Special Jury Mention
Minimalen Short Film Festival 2012Trondheim, Norway
Best Film - Nordic Competition
Best Fiction - Nordic Competition