Village Archive: Longwangcun 2006 Video Files
Color/89min/DV/2008
By: Li Yifan
Producers: Li Yifan, Qian Jian
Cinematography: Li Yifan, Lu Jun
Editing: Lu Jun
Program Note:
Universal yet odd religious beliefs; unchecked power and a powerless society; people who know nothing but hardship as they work the land and lead austere existences, oblivious to the fact that their lives have meaning. This is Longwancun¡ªa typical example of life in rural Southwest China. The film flows with the changing of the seasons, following no specific storyline. There are no great joys, no great tragedies. Everything happens, yet nothing comes to a conclusion¡ªit is simply time passing. Strictly speaking, this is an edited visual archive of the countryside, the day-to-day account of an ordinary southwestern village of no particular importance.
Director:
I tried to find the most average specimen of a western Chinese village, and I hope, with the most objective attitude and through the most basic means of documentation, to present the most common features of the western Chinese countryside. While filming, I gave up on documenting marking events and local traits and customs; I gave up trying to capture portraits of individuals; and I set aside my emotions towards the people in the film. I had only one goal, to prevent individual events from affecting the subject's status as an average specimen. The filming took over two years to complete, and during that time, my only struggle was to constantly remind myself to discard my emotions and coldly observe the suffering of the village.
Li Yifan (b.1966. Wuhan)
Li Yifan studied at the Central Academy of Drama from 1987 to 1991. He currently lives and works in Chongqing. His 2005 work Before the Flood, produced in collaboration with Yan Yu, was awarded the Wolfgang Staudte award in the Forum of New Cinema category at the 55th Berlin International Film Festival, the Cin¨¦ma du r¨¦el Scam International Award, the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival Grand Prize and the YUNFEST ¡°Bronze Prize.¡±
Filmography:
£¨2004£©Demolish (¡°Chai¡±) News Report (Xinwen lianbo¡±)
£¨2005£©Before the Flood (¡°Yanmo,¡± in collaboration with Yan Yu)
£¨2006£©Terrorist (¡°Kongbu fenzi¡±)
£¨2008£©Village Archive: Longwangcun 2006 Video Files (¡°Xiangcun dang¡¯an¡±)
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