Archive of films Mountain Patrol / Kekexili

China / USA
2004, 91 min

Section: Another View
Year: 2005

A para-documentary with western elements based on actual events from 1993-96. It focuses on the travels of a Beijing journalist and a volunteer Tibetan patrol through the vast Kekexili region on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, one of China´s largest natural preserves. The men are after poachers slaughtering herds of Tibetan antelope.


Synopsis

Kekexili is a vast region on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and is currently the largest Chinese natural preserve. But towards the end of the 20th century, poachers went berserk and reduced the numbers of Tibetan antelope (chiru) from about two million to below ten thousand. A volunteer mountain patrol tried to stop them. In 1996 Ga Yu, a Beijing journalist, took part in a seventeen-day expedition to fight the poachers; he then wrote an article which played a fundamental role in changing the government’s approach to the problem. Based on actual events which took place in 1993-96, this para-documentary captures the journalist’s travels with the Tibetan patrol, led by their experienced leader Ritai. The director combines western elements with austere footage of a dangerous and difficult journey under harsh climatic conditions at altitudes approaching 5,000 meters.

About the director

Lu Chuan

Lu Chuan (b. 1970, Xinjiang, China) graduated in English from Beijing’s prestigious People’s Liberation Army Institute of International Affairs and worked as an interpreter during negotiations between top Chinese and American brass. Then in 1996 he left the army and entered Beijing’s Film Academy, graduating two years later. He wrote the script for the television series "Black Hole" (1999) and gained attention with his writer-director debut The Missing Gun (Xun qiang, 2002; shown at the 2003 Karlovy Vary IFF), which tells the story of a country policeman who loses his service pistol at a wedding. His next film, Mountain Patrol (2004), took the Special Jury Prize at the 2004 Tokyo IFF and was awarded by the FICC jury at the 2005 Berlinale. 

Contacts

Columbia TriStar Film Distribution
948 N. Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood, 900 38, Los Angeles
United States of America
E-mail: [email protected]

About the film

Color, 35 mm

Section: Another View
   
Director: Lu Chuan
Screenplay: Lu Chuan
Dir. of Photography: Cao Yu
Music: Lao Zai
Editor: Teng Yun
Producer: Wang Zhongjun
Production: Huayi Brothers, Taihe Film Investment Co., Ltd.
Cast: Duo Bujie, Zhang Lei, Qi Liang, Zhao Xueying, Ma Zhanlin
Contact: Columbia TriStar Film Distribution
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