Life
The Big Boom of Guizhou Films
by Author Name
PUBLISHED August 13, 2021 • 2 MIN READ
2018 has been a fruitful year for Guizhou films. Long Day’s Journey into Night by director Bi Gan, A Cool Fish by director Rao Xiaozhi, Four Springs by director Lu Qingyi… all happened in Guizhou and were filmed by Guizhou-born directors.
These films have distinguished themselves from those depicting popular cities such as Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing by story and style. New Chinese filmmakers now focus on a broader area. Enjoying clear cultural commonality, they explore the urban and rural features of Guizhou. Such breakthrough has demonstrated the potential of China’s film industry.
Guizhou Director Lu Qingyi and His Four Springs
Lu Qingyi, had worked in Beijing for many years. He once worked as a miner, as a football player, as a pub singer and as a photographer. For four consecutive years from 2013 to 2016, Lu Qingyi recorded every detail of his hometown with camera during his visits back there for the Spring Festival. The filming centers on the family life of his elderly parents in Dushan County, Guizhou Province. He mastered film editing skills on his own, and completed the warm and healing film of Four Springs.
The cost of the film was only around 1,500 yuans, which was spent on buying a tripod. No big stars, no exciting plot or CG, only the daily life of an ordinary family in Guizhou; two people living in one room; three meals a day for four Springs. However, the reality of the film truly moved us all.
Kaili Blues
Director Bi Gan, born in Kaili City, Guizhou Province in June 1989, directed his first film Kaili Blues in 2015. It helped him win the Best New Director Award in the 52nd Golden Horse Awards. Kaili Blues was filmed in Bi Gan’s home city of Kaili, and almost every scene in the film is related to his life experience. After the film was released, many people said that they fell in love with Guizhou and visited Guizhou because of this movie.
Guizhou in the Eye of A Shanghai Photographer
In 2019, a group of Chinese city-themed photos were released by Shanghai photographer @youknowcyc and they were well received on social media. Among these photos, there is one taken in Guizhou, to be specific, in Zhongshuge Bookstore.