Our documentary film "From Chung Kuo to China"
Takes a journey back
To look for four directors from developed countries
Who have made documentaries in China
In the 1970s
Their works are highly admired
In the five episodes, we find the people
And the places appeared in their films
And we attempted for a comparison
Between the China they looked at
And the China we are now living in
And tried to explain the concept of 40 years
At that time the reform and opening-up policy was not yet introduced
China was lesser known to the world
But there are powers
Like Japan, US, Italy, France
Who oriented their detectors towards China
One is "Chung Kuo" by Italian director Antonioni
He was deeply curious about Chinese culture
He had ancient Chinese philosophy books
In his house
Including "Yi Jing"
The diplomatic relations were established between China and Italy in 1971
And Premier Zhou Enlai said
That your country has highly developed film and culture industry
Would you consider making a documentary for China
These Chinese never saw a westerner before
They were surprised to see us
Both shy and curious
Antonioni made an effort in recording the reality of Chinese
He did this by setting his camera on streets
To capture unprepared people
In the countryside, children
Lovers
Women in labor
And the bathrooms of kindergartens
Breeding bases
Things that were mysterious to outsiders
From Beijing to Henan
Through Suzhou, Nanjing
And finally arriving at Shanghai
In Italy many people don't see the world
And they don't see China
But they see Antonioni's "Chung Kuo"
They think that Chung Kuo is China
But when LaoGao came to China in person
He realized that's not the case
So he wanted to do a special
Following the footprint of Antonioni
He looked at China
In the same way Antonioni did forty years ago
They visited the old cotton mill
Which has turned into a cultural park
Factories look like self-sufficient villages
They work and live there
(That's the border)
They entered from Shenzhen
(The border between Hong Kong and mainland China)
In the old photo there were barren lands
But now you see skyscrapers everywhere
The change is stunning
We found similar people for each episode
The film "From Mao to Mozart"
Is a record of Isaac Stern's travel in China
It won the Academy Award
That episode follows Stern's son
David Stern
Isaac Stern was a respected
Musician and social activist
He taught many children studying at conservatories of music 71 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:19,640 How to play
To break through the spell of uniformity
And express personal feelings
It was mind-blowing for Chinese
David Stern
Was working with Shanghai Symphony Orchestra
To organize an Isaac Stern International Violin Competition in China
And 2018 was the second year
David Stern told us
China is the only place that can hold a competition at such magnitude
It's hard to believe that China is a better land than other countries for classical music
One thing that was particularly difficult
Was finding the people appeared in the films
We tried every means
In the episode "From Mao to Mozart"
There were children playing the violin
Who later became famous musicians
The lady
The interpreter between Stern and Chinese
Who looked thirty something
And now should be in her seventies
We went through the end credits
And found a lady named Lv Wanru
And she is her
It is so lovely so see you again
Oh my goodness
How are you
Fine, thank you
Just like this, through every possible channel
Even the father of some colleague
Some guy from some organization
We found them
Joris Ivens
His documentary of China dated back to the war time
"The 400 Million"
Lots of his films were made in China
"Comment Yukong déplaça les montagnes" was almost the same time as Antonioni's
His wife Loridan was a co-director
As a woman
She looked at the Chinese women at that time
Do you think you will still be able to go out to sea if you are married and have children
We will go to sea if necessary
At Dayu Island
There were women captains
Before that legend had it
That women can not get on a boat
They bring bad luck
But at that time women can go on a boat
But that was the only time in history
In "Comment Yukong déplaça les montagnes" there was an old man
His grandson is still making dough figures
He was born in 1995, very young
He tried to make their dough figures accepted
By the young people
He speaks very good English
Never been abroad
You can see
That how brilliant
These young Chinese are
Our team is surprisingly young
The average age is twenty-four or -five
Trying out on such big topic
Is a challenging experiment for us
The original intention is to show the world how China has changed
By seeing them, you will understand
As a Chinese
Whether a farmer, a small businessman
Or someone important
We are not so different
The reform and opening-up policy didn't
Progress layer by layer
It penetrated every layer of the society at the same rate
Everywhere you go it's the same
Warm and embracing