Pan si dong’ has been restored by the National Library and the Chinese film archive has been notified of the find.
The film was released in Norway under the title “Spiders” and an advert in a 1929 copy of Aftenposten stated it to be the first Chinese film shown in Norway.
“This is a great and exciting discovery. We’ve have been in contact with the Chinese film archive which until now have regarded the film as lost. They say that the film is among one of the really central ones in Chinese film history,” says the Library’s Maria Fossheim Lund.
The film is known under several titles: ‘Pan si dong’, ‘Xiyu ji’, ‘Journey to the West’, ‘The Spiders’ Cave’, ‘Spiders’ and ‘The Cave of the Silken Web.’
The restored film will be shown in Oslo on 13th October as part of the Film from the South festival and will be introduced by Chinese film expert Chris Berry.
He is Professor of Film and Television Studies in the Department of Media and Communication at Goldsmiths, University of London.