Villager Documentary Project

The year 2010 marks the 5th year of the Villager Documentary Project. Let us see what these four villagers, who have yet to put down their DV cameras, are up to in 2010.

They have completed their third feature-length films, My Village 2008, and these will premiere at Caochangdi’s May Festival; their fourth films, My Village 2009, are in the editing process; their fifth feature-length films, My Village 2010, are currently in production. While living, experiencing, suffering, and hoping, they are also filming; the four village filmmakers have walked this road since 2006. Of the many who have pledged their undying devotion to documentary, many have turned their lenses to commercial exploits, or just hidden their cameras away altogether. But these four villagers—the most ordinary, the most unlikely to have an affair with documentary—are now starting their fifth year with an open lens, directed at the villages and villagers most familiar to them. And they intend to continue. Perhaps this is the new revision to the story of “Yugong Yishan” (a Chinese tale about a foolish old man moving a mountain).

My Village 2008
Directed, filmed, edited by Shao Yuzhen
Organized & Produced by CCD Workstation
75 mins./2009
Screen: 19:00, May 2 (Sun.)

Filmmaker’s words:
2008 was China’s “Year of the Olympics,” so of course my film My Village 2008 is related to this. My village is located in the suburbs of Beijing, and had its own Olympic activities, its own leg of the torch relay. Before the Olympics started, we received notices that all the gravesites on the edge of the main highway would need to be moved. They were “eyesores.”

Our entanglement with the media continued through this year. Beijing Television, Austrian Television, Chinese Central Television (CCTV), and even our very own Shunyi County Television have come through. They were interested in the topic “The Olympics Change Lives,” and felt that my filming DV and making films should be fodder for that topic.

This year, our village’s crops experienced intense drought and torrential downpours. My aunt, who had been sick for several years, passed away. This year was also the 10-year anniversary of my own mother’s death. It was also the year my daughter took the College Entrance Exams and got into college. My film records all these bits and pieces of our everyday lives, since they, too, are a part of my family’s and my fellow villagers’ life experiences.

Filmmaker's Bio:
Shao Yuzhen, female, born in 1950, has spent all her past years living and working in Shaziying village, located in Beijing’s Shunyi district. Shao joined Caochangdi’s Villager Documentary Project in 2005 and completed a documentary short entitled, “I Film My Village.” Since then she has completed three feature-length projects, My Village 2006, My Village 2007 and My Village 2008.

My Village 2008
Directed, filmed, edited by Zhang Huancai
Organized & Produced by CCD Workstation
139 mins./2009
Screen: 21:30, May 2 (Sun.)

Filmmaker’s words:
My new film once again leads off with my family. I would say this is a consistent style of my films, but perhaps that is a little far-fetched. But also, my 360-degree self-shot is my new “mark,” the one I am most pleased with. It really was 360 degrees, in order to size up my village from every angle.
I enjoy listening to the talks I had with our township Party members, about the village’s past, present, and their predictions for its future; all this appears in my 2008 film. This rests on my past generations, I exchanged my 50 years of history growing up in this village for these interactions, these words that pull at my heart. Frankly, our Party leaders would never say these things to an outsider who hadn’t grown up in our village! I especially want to share these words that glisten like gold for everyone! Once you hear them, you will definitely find that you got “your money’s worth.”
According to my personality, I like to express my thoughts in a relaxed, amusing way (this is the farmer’s way), so my 2008 film will also make you laugh, although it won’t be the kind of laugh you get from our traditional Chinese comic dialogues.
Otherwise, I just really hope to show everyone the beauty of our village. Rest assured, and don’t be misled…my goal was never to lead everyone to “trespass” into my village.

Filmmaker's Bio:
Zhang Huancai, male, was born in 1960, in Shijiazai village in the Shanxi province. He is a farmer who occasionally leaves his village to find odd jobs in the city. Zhang joined the Villager Documentary Project in 2006, with whose support he finished his first documentary short, “A Futile Election.” Since then, he has completed three feature-length projects, My Village 2006, My Village 2007 and My Village 2008.

My Village 2008
Directed, filmed, edited by Wang Wei
Organized & Produced by CCD Workstation
75 mins./2009
Screen: 15:00, May 3 (Mon.)

Filmmaker’s words:
Is film an extension of life? Maybe not. On any normal day, if I’m not too busy and in a decent mood, I’ll pick up my DV and take it for a spin, and capture some everyday people doing everyday things. These are things I see every day, and the only difference is that this day I happened to have a camera in my hand, or maybe a little bit of a dream in my heart.
Maybe film is just a piece of my life. My neighbors, they still have their lives.
I don’t remember too far back, but in these last 30 years, our village hasn’t changed much. Maybe it’s because my memory is faulty, who knows. But if I could film another 30 years, then maybe we could know for sure whether there are changes, and how they came about. This 2008 film is just one of those years.

Wang Wei, male, was born in 1977 into Guanyinsi Wangjia village of eastern China’s Shandong Province. He participated in the Villager Documentary Project in 2005 and completed his first short documentary, “Land Distribution.” Since then, he has completed three feature-length projects, My Village 2006, My Village 2007 and My Village 2008.

My Village 2008
Directed, filmed, edited by Jia Zhitan
Organized & Produced by CCD Workstation
75 mins./2009
Screen: 13:00, May 3 (Mon.)

Filmmaker’s words:
Every year the film title is the same, My Village, but the lives of the villagers are not always the same—sour, sweet, bitter, spicy.
It’s possible the Nanxi River that flows through our village has existed since the time of Pan Gu (the Chinese mythological Creator of the earth). With its waters we can irrigate the fields, live, bathe, clean, and even taste a mouth full of goodness (in fish and shrimp), which is why more and more villagers have moved closer to it, relying on it. This little river isn’t even 5 km long, but 5,000 villagers live along its banks in 5 villages; me and my family live in one of these villages.
Over ten years ago, a coal mine was constructed near the river’s source, so the water flowing into our village this year is severely polluted. So the villagers went to the coal mine to discuss the issue, and appealed to our local government. The villagers came to me, and I brought this DV camera along. From start to finish, I will persevere side by side with the other villagers, never letting up, until we can get the coal mine and all over involved parties to begin negotiations.

Filmmaker's Bio:
Jia Zhitan, male, was born in 1950 in Yuanyichang village, in China’s Hunan Province. Jia joined Caochangdi’s Villager Documentary Project in 2005 and completed a documentary short entitled, “Quarry.” Since then, he has completed three feature-length projects, My Village 2006, My Village 2007 and My Village 2008.