Film Archive

Diago

Official Selection - Competition 2010 / Ao ge / China 2010

Shot on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the transfer of the Portuguese colony of Macau to Chinese administration. It’s 1999 and the title character is on a personal pilgrimage to discover his Portuguese-Macanese roots, thereby opening up the theme of the individual’s (and an entire society’s) search for identity on the threshold of an uncertain postcolonial existence. The director’s 2008 film The Shaft competed at the 43rd KVIFF.

Synopsis

The film adaptation of the novel by Macanese writer Lio Chi Heng marks the 10th anniversary of the transfer of the Portuguese colony of Macau to Chinese administration. The year is 1999 and Macau television ceaselessly informs the population of preparations for the upcoming handover. In the atmosphere of the changing society, when some submit to Chinese lessons and others consider emigration, the movie’s protagonist begins to investigate his own identity. Now more than ever he senses his Portuguese- Macanese roots, which always prevented him from feeling at home with his stepfather and sister. The title character’s pilgrimage opens up the theme of the search for personal and social identity on the threshold of postcolonial life; at the time of the transfer it represented a pressing issue for the majority of Macau’s inhabitants. In long, austere sequences imbued with melancholy, the narration captures feelings of dispossession, but it also offers hope, an ineluctable element of every quest.

About the film

89 min / Color, 35 mm
World premiere
Director Chi Zhang / Screenplay Chi Zhang / Dir. of Photography Shumin Liu, Xiaoqun Yu / Music Wei Dong, Jiaojiao Zhou / Editor Jianwei Hu, Chi Zhang / Producer Wang Yan / Production Companhia de Cinematografia Hou Long (Macau) LDA. / Cast Carl Ng, Carlos Ernesto Koo Ayala, Sixuan Zhou, Xiao Wang / Contact Companhia de Cinematografia Hou Long (Macau) LDA.

About the director

Chi Zhang (b. 1977, Beijing) found work directing for China Central Television (CCTV) in 2000-2004 after graduating from Beijing’s Central Academy of Drama. After leaving the station, he began a career as a movie director and screenwriter. In 2007 Tokyo Trial (Dobgjing shenpan, 2006) added a Chinese national award for Best Screenplay to his professional credits, a prize he shared with his three co-writers. His feature The Shaft (Dixia de Tiankong, 2008) had its world premiere in the competition of the 43rd KVIFF and then screened at numerous other festivals.

Contacts

Companhia de Cinematografia Hou Long (Macau) LDA.
907, Room Bei-san-huang-dong-lu, 1000 13, Beijing
China
Phone: +86 139 221 229 73, +86 133 917 823 05
Fax: +86 203 765 2020
E-mail: [email protected]