South of the Clouds

Colour, 35 mm
China, 2004, 100 min
Section: Another View

Synopsis

The title of the film is also the name of a location in Yunnan province in south-east China, the home of various ethnic groups nestled deep in the mountains. By Lake Lugu live the Mosuo people who, to this day, exist as part of a simple matriarchal society with its strong Tibetan Buddhist tradition. It is to Yunnan that Xu Daqin is headed; he used to work here but, after having to marry, he moved to the north. Since that time he has known only drudgery, endless arguments and his role caring for the family. He has often imagined how different his life might have been if he had stayed in Yunnan all those years ago. Thus he decides to fulfil his dream and set out for the place which appears to him as a distant paradise. However, he experiences something unexpected. The director on his film: “I felt the need to tell a story about the generation of my parents yet, in the end, I discovered that it could easily apply also to my own generation. If someone chooses one way of life, in consequence, he loses another”. 

About the director

Zhu Wen (b. 1967, Quanzhou, Fujian province), Chinese screenwriter and director, initially studied at technical college and worked in a factory as an engineer. He soon left his job, however, since he had a keen interest in literature. He has been earning a living as a writer since 1994, publishing four anthologies of short stories, a collection of poetry and a novel. He was involved in the scripts for the films Rain Clouds over Wushan (Wu shan yun yu, 1995) and Seventeen Years. He debuted as a director with Seafood (Hai xian, 2001), screened at the Karlovy Vary IFF 2002 in the section Forum of Independents.