Women and art rarely get serious attention in our culture, and older women in art are virtually ignored. In TRIPTYCH: 3 Women Making Art, we see three artists who debunk the myth of the older woman as a used up and useless part of society. In fact, these women have remained vibrant and creative well into their sixties and seventies.
Seventy five year old Gafoor comes from a long line of shepherds, known as Bakerwals in Kashmir. The nomadic lifestyle is all that he has ever known. His life is very challenging. He has to rebuild his house on the mountains in Kashmir every year because of the damage from hostile weather. Gafoor and his family has to travel from the plains of Jammu to the mountains of Kashmir in summer, covering a distance of almost 300 Kms on foot, and reverse the trip in winter, to graze the herd of 200 animals which include sheep, goats, a cow and a few ponies . He has the huge responsibility of taking the entire caravan safely to Kashmir and then back to Jammu. The journey as always is difficult because of the steep terrain and unpredictable weather. It will take them 27 days to reach Kashmir.
Women. Illiterate. Coming from villages with no light. They leave their villages in South America to go in India to become solar engeneers. They will bring solar light back home.
Behind the Orange Curtain is a documentary that delves into the staggering problem of teenage drug abuse in one of the most affluent counties in the country. Young, privileged teenagers are dying of drug overdoses in record numbers in Orange County, California. This documentary film will set out to ask the question.....why?
Why are two modern Buddhist countries fighting over an ancient Hindu temple because of a bad French map from the early twentieth century? By documenting this modern conflict over an ancient temple this film addresses a critical question for our times: How does culture matter in matters of war?
After decades struggling to protect her ancestors' burial places, now engulfed by San Francisco's sprawl, a Native woman from a federally unrecognized tribe and her allies occupy a development site to prevent desecration of sacred ground. When this fails to stop the development, they vow to follow a new path: to establish the first women-led urban Indigenous land trust. BEYOND RECOGNITION tells the inspiring story of women creating opportunities to preserve Native culture and homeland in a society bent on erasing them. Through cinema verite, interviews, and stunning footage of the land, the film introduces Corrina Gould, Johnella LaRose, and Indian People Organizing for Change as they embark on an incredible journey to transform the way we see cities. The film invites viewers to examine their own relationship to place, revealing histories that have been buried by shifting landscapes.
Following a national crisis, the citizens of Iceland rallied together to collectively write the first ever crowdsourced constitution. A deeply touching account of an eclectic group of individuals reinventing democracy through the rewriting of the nation's constitution, proving that Iceland is not a broken country but instead an intricate web of concerns, ideas, and ultimately creative solutions.
The very ancient tradition of a storyteller going from one valley to the next spreading news from the outside world is in decline. A couple with great experience with this street art, Gai Ying Mu and her husband Gai Ming He, only perform upon request. Unfortunately, to make a living from this art has become more and more difficult. Now, ten years after first filming, the Director returns to the family when the couple is to give a performance in a neighboring valley. Even if the casting of the little orchestra is bigger - three young apprentices now accompany the duo - the few spectators are much less enthusiastic than before. However, the show goes on and our couple adapts the old stories to current realities. The tradition of ancient storytelling remains alive: ancestral China stands up against the assaults of modernity.
Descending from a long line of fishermen on the Yangtze River, Liu Gujun had to redefine his professional activity when the construction of the famous Three Gorges Dam began. His father, who has recently passed away, had to stop fishing the river due the growing pollution that the dam has created and asked his son to start cleaning the river. In the Chinese tradition of respect for the elder, Lui Gujon took the last wishes of his father very seriously. As such, he puts all his energy and invests every penny of his personal wealth into the ambitious project of cleaning up the river. For lack of sufficient grants from the government, Liu even contracts heavy loans to build a small flotilla of cleaning boats.
A terrible flood destroys the home of the AH family in a small village in China's Southern Guangdong province. Life was already a constant struggle for them, but this disaster turns their existence into a nightmare. Over a period of 12-months the filmmaker follows the family during the challenging period of building a new shelter. During this time they will have to confront many obstacles, material and emotional as well as those associated with local and regional governments, which in the end profoundly changes them forever.
In Gansu Province, the Minquin community struggles with the affects of desertification. Surrounded by the Tengri and Badanjilin deserts, the villages of the region are beginning to be engulfed underneath sand dunes. Many villagers decide to leave their homeland. However, several elders have chosen to stay. They prefer instead to remain close to their roots and try to fight against desertification by planting trees. Following the story of these peoples, we are immersed in one of the worldwide ecological battles of the 21st Century. Desertification is a problem that largely overwhelms the Chinese frontiers. But on a broader scale, many environmental specialists claim that one third of the earth's surfaces are threatened by this phenomenon. It is a story we should all heed.
This Song GAO directed documentary follows the stories of Feng Haitao, Li Yuchun, and Jin Lian after they graduate from the Sichuan Normal University. As they seek employment in one of China's largest cities, Chengdu, the program makes us question the validity of a college diploma and whether wealth is more important than education. Following each graduate from the moment they receive their diplomas, we track their highs and lows as the pressures of the modern world are thrust upon them. As we become more connected with their lives we start to wonder that even with China's growing influence in the world, are there still enough jobs for China's next generation of graduates?
In this documentary, we follow the twenty-three families strong nomadic Guoshan tribe, a sub-group of Yaos. They follow a thousand year old tradition of selecting a new temporary home every two or three generations, usually distancing themselves from their previous temp-home by several hundreds of miles. Provided now with a substantial piece of land for them to build their own permanent village and farm their own land, the tribe's leader as well as thirty members decide to precede the tribe's move. Although they have a strong sense of community they are used to operating individually for their survival. In this instance, as they learn to become farmers, it has been decided between them to operate under a collective scheme, just as in the early days of China's communist revolution.
Zhou Zhi, the patriarch of the family, rules strictly following the handed-down 'hereditary tradition': listening to no one. In the face of new economic challenges, he decides and acts totally arbitrarily. Unable to adapt himself to "modern times", not the least because of his stubbornness, he runs into heavy debt putting the family in great financial difficulty. Turning to his daughters and sons-in-law for support, he receives a cold welcome. Around the almost larger-than-life patriarchal figure of Zhou Zhi, this film vividly portrays the difficulties of an ordinary Chinese family, with its members having to change their lifestyle in the face of economic difficulties and a shifting culture.
Yin Hong and her husband were born in the 50's. The Cultural Revolution dramatically impacted their youth; there was no place for any artistic expression. Yet they loved music and they have a gifted son, Lu Nan, who today is 15 year's old. "Piano Dream" is a story about parents investing everything they have for their only child's success. It is a dream journey binding two generations. The film brings attention to a woman's choice and fate, probing the impact of her dream on her son's maturation and their relationship. It shows the son's bitterness to a point where one asks oneself if the mother's dream is not becoming her son's nightmare. Filmed over a period of nearly three years, this documentary keeps faithful to real life, but maintains a poetic feel.
There are more than 2,500 pensioners living in a large private retirement home located in a suburb of Canton (Guangzhou), China. As we discover the daily lives of these people, the film focuses on the lives of two elderly ladies: Ms. Kuang and Ms Xie. The documentary reveals how today's urban China can be reflected by the story of these two women, who find themselves away from their families, in a retirement home. Here, in the wake of serious health considerations, they have to build new relationships, define a new rhythm to their daily life and invent new ways to be with others.
As a young man, Zheng was a wild boy: he’d rather spend his time gambling and dancing than studying. But his exuberant way of life came to an end when, during the Cultural Revolution, he was charged with counter-revolutionary behavior and sent to prison. Now, he lives in the boarding house of Shuanglin Town, and is a silent witness to the last chapter of his own, lonely Life. Unyielding to his neighbors, to his society, to its History, as well as to the omnipresent Chinese system, he realizes that he is even almost independent of himself. This intimate and respectful portrait of a striking 83-year-old Chinese citizen offers us an inside view into the way China treats its Seniors and gives us the opportunity to better understand China’s contemporary History.
The Jin Cheng restaurant in China's Chao region has a reputation for excellence due to its "Chao" specialties. To guarantee the authenticity of "Chao" flavors, the supplying of fish, shellfish and tofu, among others, must come from the original source…where the skills of this ethnic group are still applied in accordance with the ancestral rules and where the quality and freshness of the products is indisputable. Nothing can be properly done if the traditions are not respected. A fascinating documentary on Chinese culture, traditional skills and ethnic belonging.