IMAGINARY RESCRIPTING ESSAY FILM & ART THERAPY

25 May 2025

Imaginary Rescripting is an essay film that unravels how societies weaponize imaginary reality, from psychological therapy and Qing Dynasty art to viral algorithms, to construct divisive “Others” and exploit collective trauma. Blending intimate case studies, cross-cultural analysis, and experimental visuals, the film challenges audiences to reclaim the power of imagination: Can the stories that fracture us also become tools to heal a polarized world.

Imaginary Rescripting dissects how imaginary narratives shape collective trauma and social power across psychology, history, and digital culture. The film opens with the therapeutic method of imagery rescripting, where individuals reconstruct traumatic memories through guided imagination. This process becomes a metaphor for how political systems regenerate cultural trauma on digital platforms to reinforce nationalist identities and homogenize collective memory.

This thread extends to 19th-century Chinese Dian Shi Zhai pictorials, which inserted imaginary onlookers into scenes, fictionalizing spectatorship in ways that echo today’s social media algorithms, which amplify division by manufacturing engineered “Others.” Interviews with Dutch media scholars and Chinese sociologists further examine how digital platforms commodify polarization, while artists such as Tiong Ang explore how fiction can be reclaimed as a medium for empathy and resistance.

Through multi-dimensional visual distortions, animated reinterpretations of online content, and reflective metaphors, the film reframes imaginary reality not only as a force of manipulation but also as a potential site for healing. In a time of algorithmic alienation, Imaginary Rescripting invites viewers to confront the narratives that divide us—and to imagine new possibilities for identity, memory, and connection.

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