Cherlyn Hsing-Hsin Liu’s new film screens at the New Jersey Film Festival on September 6!

by Philip Thompson

originally published: 08/29/2026

In 2025, Cherlyn Hsing-Hsin Liu, an artist, filmmaker, and writer whose work is experimental, conceptual, avant-garde, and philosophic, began working with an antique hand-cranked projector from 1909, and this experience led her to reflect on the evolution of film and experiment with the process, which included painting by hand directly on the film. She treated the film not as individual frames, but as hundreds of feet of scroll paintings that flowed before her eyes as the gears in the projector were turned by her own hand. She described the feeling as a boat sailing, or the wind singing. The title of the film is derived from an old Chinese anecdote.”Having heard the wind pass by countless times, one has finally come to realize the landscape of life, the Dao of life.”

Listen to the wind eight hundred times is a wonderfully executed blend of modern and vintage experimental filmmaking. The film is hypnotic, dream-like, and nostalgic, yet somehow original and contemporary. Using modern editing techniques with antiquated hardware makes for an excellent look into an experimental artist’s take on filmmaking. Listen to the wind eight hundred times also features a beautiful, haunting, and borderline post-rock score by Michael Pisaro-Liu that compliments the film beautifully. The film, like the Chinese anecdote, does have a certain ‘flowing’ tone, and once the film catches its stride, becomes something the viewer can easily be entranced by or lose themselves in.

Cherlyn Hsing-Hsin Liu has received many awards at other festivals for her past works including the Jury’s First Prize at the Women Make Waves Int'l Film Festival, Taiwan for Close-ups; the Jury Award at the Ann Arbor Film Festival for How Old Are You? How Old Were You?; and the Best Experimental Film Award at the San Diego Asian Film Festival for Teetering Graphite.

Listen to the wind eight hundred times screens as part of Shorts Program #1 at the New Jersey Film Festival on Sunday, September 6, 2026 – – Online for 24 Hours on this date and In-Person at 5PM in Voorhees Hall #105/Rutgers University, 71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901!
Get more info and buy tickets here.

The 45th Bi-annual New Jersey Film Festival will be taking place between September 4-October 4, 2026. The Festival will be a hybrid as we will be presenting it online as well as doing select in-person screenings at Rutgers University. All the films will be available virtually via Video on Demand for 24 hours on their show date. VOD start times are at 12 Midnight Eastern USA. Each General Admission Ticket or Festival Pass purchased is good for both the virtual and the in-person shows when both are offered. We will also be offering an Audio-Visual Concert featuring Hanging Coats and Lawns as well as two FREE Filmmaking Workshops! The in-person screenings, the filmmaking workshops and the AV Concert will be held in Voorhees Hall #105/Rutgers University, 71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, NJ beginning at 1PM, 5PM or 7PM on their show date. General Admission Ticket=$15 Per Program; Festival All Access Pass=$100; In-Person Only Student Ticket=$10 Per Program. The Filmmaking Workshops are FREE and open to the public but have limited seating and require advance registration. To register email us at [email protected]