Films

 

《查房》

The Questioning  

 22 min / 2013 /  Documentary

 

《檔案》

The Dossier

 128 min / 2014 / Documentary

 

《歡迎》

Welcome 

63 min / 2016 /  Documentary

 

《塵》

Dust 

83 min / 2014 / Documentary

 

《安妮》

Anni

78 mins / 2018 / Documentary

 

《海妖》

No Desire to Hide

Documentary / 91 minutes / 16:9 / Color / 2021

 


 

Introduction to the films:

 

The Questioning

【查房】



 

Early in the morning on July 24th, 2012, after meeting some friends in Hongkong,  I drove a car of my brother back to Shenzhen and got Guo Feixiong and three other friends who take part in human rights protection to the car and went on driving to Xinyu ,Jiangxi Province to cheer Liu Ping and two other local independent candidates. They have been oppressed by the government and the police for taking part in the election and other human rights protection events.    

 

Before, there were some other people beaten by the police when they went there to  cheer and support the candidates.

 

We hurried to Xinyu before dawn on July 25th.  By the time dawn broke, we found a hotel and put our luggage there, then we went to meet Liu Ping and others, went to see a lake where Liu had been imprisoned nearby, and interviewed them about their experiences. While doing these things , we found ourselves tailed. At 11o’clock at night, we came back to the hotel, there were some police cars and a group of policemen scattering by the building. The owner of the hotel came to us in a hurry and told us that the police had already been into our room before, and said it had never happened before. At 12 o’clock at night, some policemen came to our room and started the so-called “room inspection”.

 

As they began to knock at the door, I turned on a small camcorder which was prepared in advance. So this short film is the record of such a moment.

 

 

The Dossier

【檔案】

 

 

Ten years ago, Tibetan writer Tsering Woeser’s efforts to document and present the reality of Tibet was considered a “political problem” by the Party-state.  She was fired from her job when she turned down the “request” to confess and correct these “problems”. Since then, she has persevered as an independent writer, and has continued to speak out for the sufferings of Tibetan people. Ever since the disturbance in Lhasa took place in 2008 and as the number of self-immolations among Tibetan people has risen dramatically, her writing and her blog have become an important channel for the world to see Tibet.  But despite being acknowledged for her efforts, her personal life and freedom have been seriously disturbed.

 

As an unexpected event, we came into possession of Woeser’s official dossier which then became the main thread of this film. Through this lengthy and dull dossier, we see how a supposedly well-shaped screw and successor of the Chinese communist cause went off the premade track in reality. 

 

Has she obtained freedom?

 

 

Dust

【塵】

 

A group of former miners from the mountainous villages of Sichuan take on the government in their bid to get compensation for the deadly lung disease pneumoconiosis.

 

He Bing is a fighter. He has pneumoconiosis; his father has pneumoconiosis, as does his brother. Another brother has already died from the disease.

 

Together with his comrade in arms, Chen Xiezhong, He Bing travels back to the dust-filled mines where they contracted the disease in order to file a lawsuit against the government. Chen Xiezhong has done more than anyone to bring the miners together but the disease eventually took its toll and he passed away in 2012.  As a final gesture, he donated his corneas for research at the hospital that had taken care of him in his last months.

 

The miners are under constant pressure, harassment and intimidation from the local authorities who see them as threats to social stability. But they never give up. The battle for compensation is continued by Hu Qihong, who grew up in the same village as Chen Xiezhong, and who has now married, Zhao Mingxiu, the widow of another villager who died from pneumoconiosis.

 

We travel back home with Hu Qihong to see first-hand the devastation that this terrible disease, combined with the heartless attitude of local officials, has wrought in this picturesque but profoundly sad mountain village.

 

 

Welcome

【歡迎】

 

 

During Spring Festival of 2013, I went to the mountain area in Sichuang province of China for research and material collecting of a documentary movie. Within a day, various people including informers and the cadres of the village, the police, publicity agents, and cadres from the Stabilization Office, badgered me from morning to late night. After all the shots and materials were deleted, I finally got away in the vehicle arranged by the officials. A documentary with almost no visual image was made with a clip I recorded stealthily in the “Stabilization Office”. This dramatic day, especially the part at midnight appears often before my eyes.  

 

I sometime try putting myself in the extreme situations. Or I purposely set up extreme situation in ordinary circumstances in order to observe characters involved. It is not my intention to create conflicts, but drama often emerges then, even during the most ordinary daily life. This film is such an example. The focus and timing of the original goal I set up was shifted due to the interposition of authority. An interesting point is that this conflict involving authority was created by the image I was making. I tried to record this incident, and attempted to reproduce the image through an extreme way with no image. This ended up being an unexpected experiment. 

 

 

Anni

【安妮】

 

Anni is a ten-year-old Chinese girl. In 2013, she was taken away by secret police and was banned from attending school shortly after she moved to an elementary school in Hefei city in China. Her father is a dissident under government surveillance. The government forbade her father from moving to a different house by controlling her schooling.

Upon hearing the news, a number of people started to gather at a small public square outside the school gate in support of Anni. A few lawyers went on hunger strike. Some activists and petitioners also came to express their own political demands and personal grievances in relation to their rights. There were quarrels among the protesters because of different opinions. The parents and their children passed by with suspicion. Residents in the area had different views. Janitors complained that the protesters’ banners messed up the neighborhood. Security guards demanded protesters being cooperative to their control while comforting the janitors. Anni practiced on her beloved skate board in the square. The national anthem was being played on campus. I took my camera toward the fence. Inside, Grade A students were giving speeches. The principal walked by and offered his judgment in his own way. He pointed out a scape goat. Everybody's speeches  seemed to contain both fact and fiction, everyone’s logic is at odds with the reality. You have to make your own judgment or imagination. Every evening after the protesters left, the square was occupied by another group of people. Under dim street lights was the stage for public group dance.

Ten days later, at the crack of dawn, several hundred police surrounded the square and an inn where the protesters were staying. All of the protesters there were detained. The small public square was thoroughly scraped. Because of this assembly and various events afterward, dozens of participants were sentenced to prison. Anni’s father Zhang Lin was thrown back in jail

With rescue efforts from a number of people, Anni managed to leave China -- she was adopted by an American couple. Her childhood continues on another piece of land. 

 

 

No Desire to Hide

【海妖】

 

 

Synopsis

 

Wu Haohao describes himself as a video producer. He shoots a lot of videos, mostly with sexual content. He and his girlfriend, Ge Ningning, agree to maintain an open relationship, each with their own lover. They hold different opinions on marriage, childbirth and what type of relationship to maintain with parents. Conflicts often occur.

 

Haohao proclaims himself a communist, worships Mao Zedong, and admires the Cultural Revolution. He wants to change the society around him, but often hits a stone wall. He is harassed by the noise of the neighbors renovating their apartment, and tries to talk things through with them. But in the end he only gets some psychological solace, the problem does not go away. Haohao feels that life in the United States might offer better opportunities, and wants to emigrate there, and to promote his communist ideals in New York. His parents are also Maoists from an ordinary class background. They too want to see him emigrate, but are not optimistic about his prospects.

Ningning likes to dance and paint. She also enjoys various cultural activities. She has performed in many films made by Haohao and others, but has failed to receive any recognition. She hopes fame and fortune will come to her one day, but the road to success is long and tortuous. She is diligent and thoughtful, yet finds herself beset by conflicts and contradictions.

Haohao uses any opportunities he can to meet women. But he is not always appreciated by girls. Ningning, on the other hand, is much sought after by men, and her relationships incur the envy and  annoyance of Haohao. Their relationship enventually reaches crisis point, with both of them feeling bleak about their prospects, while their respective lives carry on.

 

Director Statement

About 15 years ago, a film student sought me out on social media, where his opening sentence was: "Can you help me to get abroad and become famous?"

 

This was Wu Haohao. He is now known in some Chinese film circles for his range of low-cost, privately funded, erotic and provocative productions. We have not had that much contact over the past 15 years, beyond me occasionally attending one of his screenings, and being asked now and then to loan him some money, which he has always remembered to return.

 

Two years ago he contacted me again, this time to ask how he could emigrate to the United States. He recounted his great ambitions for what he would do once he made it abroad. I felt this was a very interesting thing, and started to film him and the people around him.

 

 

Film Festivals and Awards:

2013 The Questioning – Documentary - 22 min

·  Cinema du Reel, international short film competition

·  Documenta Madrid,international short film competition

·  Chinese Reality/Documentary Visions, MoMa, New York

·  Message to Man International Film Festival, St Perterburg,Russia

·  DMZ Korean International Documentay Film Festival

·      Festival le "Cinéma des peuples" d'Ânûû-rû âboro,short competition, Speical Mention,New Calédonia

·  DOCLISBOA International Film Festival- International Competition

·  Vienna International Film Festival

·  CPH:DOX Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival

·  International Short Film Festival Winterthur,International Competition

·  IDFA-International Documentary Festival Amsterdam- Paradocs

·  Festival Del Popoli

·  Watch Docs  Human Right Documentary Film Festival

·      Glasgow Short Film Festival- Competition

·      Filmer le travail- France

·      Doc en Courts Festival  - France

·      Ifva –Independent Film and Video Awards- Asian New Force Category

·      Busan International Short Film Festival – Competition

·      VIS – Vienna Independent Short film festival – Competition

·      CURT.DOC - Competition

·      Seoul Human Right Film Festival

·      Taiwan International Documentary Film Festival

 

2014 The Dossier – Documentary - 129 min

·      Locarno Film Festival 2014

·      Vancouver International Film Festival 2014

·      Dharamshala International Film Festival 2014

·      Watch Docs International Film Festival 2014

·      Festival Diritti Umani Lugano 2014

·      Cinema on the Edge – Asia Society

 

2014 Dust – Documentary - 82 min

·      Festival Dei Popoli 2014 International Competition

 

2016 Welcome – Documentary - 62 min

·      Cinema du Reel, Paris, 2016

·      IDFA – International Documentary Festival Amsterdam 2016

·      Festival Dei Popoli – Italy  2016

·      Jihlava Internatonal Documentary Film Festival 2016

·  FLEFF 2018

 

    2018  Anni – Documetary – 78 min

·      Cinema du Reel – International Competition

·  One World International Documentary Film Festival- Right to Know competition

·  IDFA – Best of Fest Section

 

    2021 No Desire to Hide

 

 

 

Awards:

          Cinema du Reel – Special Mention (The  Questioning)

       Festival Dei Popoli – Best Short Documentary (The Questioning)

       Glasgow Short Film Festival – Grand Prize (The Questioning)

       Hong Kong Independent Film and Video Awards – Special Mention (The Questioning)

       Qi Family Culture Foundation Award (Australia) 2014