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Gift from the Ice - Japan's Wild North

The Shiretoko National Park, on the northern tip of the Japanese peninsular, is a little-known paradise for wild animals and birds. Deservedly designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the park’s stunning biodiversity relies on the delicate balance of the changing seasons, and the drifting pack ice that descends in winter. Hundreds of brown bears roam through the park in autumn, gathering on the riverbanks to catch migrating salmon. Winter brings freezing temperatures and the return of Stellar Sea Eagles from Russia, who dive between the few remaining gaps of the pack ice to catch fish, as deceptively angelic sea snails hunt their prey. When the ice melts in spring, herring feed on the blooming plankton, enticing shearwater seabirds from Australia, fin whales, and orcas. With climate change altering the natural habitat of these creatures, what will become of Japan’s biodiversity hotspot?

Gift from the Ice - Japan's Wild North

8.0 2024
The Eternal Jinshan Temple

Jinshan Temple is the only Buddhist temple built on water in China, which dates back to the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), almost a thousand years in the past. Observant Buddhist believers often converge here to perform a rite known as "fangsheng", or "life release", which refers to the practice of saving animals from captivity and releasing them into the water. The film tries to form a slice of the history of this eternal artificial architecture through ecology, geography and folklore. A Gopro camera was tied to a turtle that was released in the river to inspect the underwater space of the temple.

The Eternal Jinshan Temple

NR 2022
Collapse

May 12th, 2008, 8-magnitude Wenchuan massive earthquake happened in Sichuan province. In Bailu town, the Shangshu Seminary, built by French Catholic missionaries 100 years before, collapsed in the earthquake. The State Administration of Cultural Heritage planed to rebuild the Shangshu Seminary. During rebuilding, Tang Min, a Catholic parishioner of three generations in Bailu town, conflicted with his neighbor Jiang's family because of some interests, his wife and daughter were brutally killed by Jiang's family. Tang Min's faith also collapsed. Six years later, the reconstruction of the collapsed Seminary was completed, Tang Min also remarried and had a three-year-old daughter, life in Bailu town seemed to be returning to the calm it had been before the collapse.

Collapse

NR 2012
Utopia

If there is no utopia on the map of this world, then this world is not worth considering. Independent documentary director Sun Zhiqiang has always maintained a firm belief in Utopia, and has regarded it as his consistent state of existence and creative practice guidelines. From the first part of "The Edge of Freedom" to the "Utopia" ", Sun Zhiqiang has always focused his camera on the group of people living on the edge of freedom in the underground rock circle, faithfully witnessing their changes over the past ten years. In "Utopia", we not only experience a journey in the lives of these musicians, but we also learn about the things around them and the wider environment.

Utopia

NR 2010
Of Color & Ink

The documentary that uncovers the creative, political, and spiritual journeys of China’s foremost 20th-century painter Chang Dai-chien (1899-1983). The film follows his unusual life journey from pre-Communist China to Argentina, the jungles of Brazil; his much acclaimed exhibits in Paris and Germany in the 1960s; as well as his final years in California and Taiwan, in a thirty-year exile in the West that has been shrouded in mystery. Through interviews and previously unseen archival materials, we follow three decades of this artist’s creative and spiritual quest far from his homeland.

Of Color & Ink

NR 2023
Anthropocene

We discard our trash every day, but do we really understand where it goes? In bustling metropolitan areas, tens of thousands of pieces of waste are discarded every day, yet most of us are unaware of how these materials are handled. While some waste is carefully sorted and recycled, the vast majority is incinerated or ends up in landfills. This film delves into the hidden processes of waste management that lie beneath the surface of modern society, shedding light on the intricacies of a process that often goes unnoticed.

Anthropocene

NR 2023
8000 Stolen Futures: The Children at the Center of the A-Bomb

On August 6, 1945, the first-ever nuclear bomb deployed in war was dropped on the city of Hiroshima Prefecture, leaving an estimated 140,000 dead in its wake by the end of that year. Among the victims, one particular age group stands out for the sheer number of fatalities sustained: 12 and 13 year-olds, children of first year junior high school age. We investigate the tragedy of this lost generation, piecing together surviving records and speaking with survivors, for whom the memories of children robbed of their futures that day are still burned deep in their memories, nearly eight decades on.

8000 Stolen Futures: The Children at the Center of the A-Bomb

NR 2022
A Folk Troupe

Eleven members of a traditional theatre troupe perform daily and live out their lives in a small playhouse in the Sichuan region of China. Their three-hour show combines various forms, from classical Chinese opera to acrobatics, and is adored by the locals. Their star actress Dandan has performed in the troupe with her mother since she was little, sharing a living space with a group of performers who share no absence of fights. Though she worries about her future, she continues to earnestly perform the heroine for her elderly audience.

A Folk Troupe

NR 2013
Oh, the San Xia

The Three Gorges Dam continues to cast a long shadow on Chinese society, Politics and environment. This documentary studies the project's final completion in 2012. Some of the prominent figures past and present - Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemi, are taken to task for rushing the project. The result is long-term ecological destruction, widespread elimination of local economies and forced relocation. Director WANG Li-bo lends his voice to the wave of criticisms of one of China’s most controversial projects.

Oh, the San Xia

NR 2012
My Sister Swallowed the Zoo

Remarkable short documentary "My Sister Swallowed the Zoo" layers old family photographs over an international telephone call of increasing intensity. Deftly experimental and wonderfully efficient, Zhang captures the liberation and the torment of being away – from home and from the expectations of daughter- and sisterhood. The work is not afraid to be loud, claiming a speaking and cinematic voice, and calling attention to the visibility of personal histories and anguished transnational futures.

My Sister Swallowed the Zoo

NR 2015
The Legend of Shaw Brothers

Shaw Yifu founded Shaw Brothers (HK), Ltd. in 1958 as the largest private studio in the world at that time called Shaw Brothers and nicknamed the Oriental Hollywood. It established a complete and mature film production marketing system which continuously enriched and perfected its practices to achieve great success. Li Hanxiang developed Huangmei Opera Film and other historical plays. King Hu created the New Ancient Swordsman Film. Chang Cheh created the first film over a million box office record. And Jia Tang and Lau Kar-leung developed their own respective styles of Kungfu in their movies. From such work, Shaw Brothers produced a lasting world-wide influence. Shaw Brothers had produced over 850 films until it stopped its blockbuster production in 1980s. From oral history and old movies, we track down the details of the past, mixed with romance and sorrow, prosperity and impermanence.

The Legend of Shaw Brothers

NR 2018
Chikara - The Sumo Wrestler's Son

'Chikara - the Sumo wrestler's son' follows the 10-year-old Japanese boy, Chikara, and his struggle to become a Sumo wrestler. His father was a professional Sumo wrestler, so expectations surrounding Chikara are extremely high. Today his father owns a noodle-shop where he works a lot. Their only time together is when they train Sumo wrestling. It's a very valuable time for Chikara. He wants to impress his father, but when he's there, Chikara gets nervous and everything seems to go wrong. The national Sumo Championship is approaching and Chikara wants to do well. It's a story of a small boy in a tough sport, parental pressure and expectations, but above all, it's a universal narrative about the relationship between father and son.

Chikara - The Sumo Wrestler's Son

NR 2013