An intimate portrait of the filmmaker’s ancestral village interwoven with the community’s testimony about their memories of the Great Famine. Part of the True Vision Award program.
Director: Dir. Hu Sanshou
Runtime: 70
Hu Sanshou’s first feature documentary sees him return to his grandparents’ home in Xiangzidian village (Shaanxi province), accompanied by his camera for the first time. In this intimate and tactile film, his frame follows his family and their neighbors as they go about their daily lives. With their labor-intensive way of life, his grandparents prepare their meals, make tools, and raise pigs while Hu inquires about their recollections of the “three years of difficulty.” This period between 1959 and 1961 in the People’s Republic of China is commonly known as the Great Famine, when millions died after a collapse in agricultural production during the Great Leap Forward. This tender film documents the essential testimony of elders revealing the reality of the people’s communes and rural life. (CT) This film screens as part of the True Vision Award.