Jiu zu fan bao de cun

Jiu zu fan bao de cun

2011. China. Directed by Zou Xueping. Wu Wenguang’s Folk Memory Documentary Project, which encourages amateur filmmakers to investigate the hidden histories of their home villages, gave rise to Zou Xueping’s first feature, The Starving Village, for which Zou interviewed residents of his hometown about their experiences during a famine that killed tens of millions. In this follow-up, Zou tries to screen the film in her village, only to meet resistance from family and neighbors fearful of official reprisal. Undeterred, Zou uses her camera to mediate her hometown’s ability to confront its tragic past, with near-miraculous results. Courtesy of China Independent Documentary Film Archive. In Mandarin; English subtitles. 88 min.