Louis Hothothot (Louis Yi Liu) followed the master program at the Netherlands Film Academy between 2015 and 2017. During this period he worked on his research project Red Kid Black Kid, which he later developed into the documentary Four Journeys. Artistic director Orwa Nyrabia of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) has just announced that Louis' documentary has been selected as the opening film of the festival. Four Journeys will open the 34th edition of the IDFA on 17 November.

In his debut film Four Journeys, Louis examines the one-child policy in China and the impact of political decisions on individual lives. He does this through his own personal story. In 1986 Louis was born in China as the second child. His family received a high fine and his father’s career was over. In his twenties Louis moved to Amsterdam. In Four Journeys he returns to China and visits his parents and sister in order to face their traumatic family history on camera. “A lyrical and intensely personal debut feature,” writes the IDFA in their statement. “Unfolding as a soft and sorrowful stream of memories, absences, and lingering shadows, Four Journeys premieres at IDFA bearing the mark of a new documentary poetics to come—one laden with wonder, nuance, and spirit.” 

Before starting the Master of Film at the Film Academy, Louis studied graphic design, animation and video art at the China Central Academy of Fine Art in Beijing and then did the Master of Fine Arts at the Dutch Art Institute. Louis works as a multimedia artist, combining film, video art, performance and graphic design. His work is about memories, emotion, politics and pain and how political power shapes and disciplines our identity