A few nice yiwu fair pictures I identified:
IMG_4749
Image by uniondocs
Umbrella by Du Haibin
China, 2008, 93 minutes, digital projections
presented with
the MOCA Chinese Cinema Club
and the China Institute Sinomathèque Film Series
The system of economic reforms initiated in China in 1978 by Deng Xiaoping aimed to finance the modernization of the nation. But what Communist Party leaders referred to as “Socialism with Chinese characteristics” looked suspiciously to several as a return to capitalism. These days, some three decades later, the benefits of these sweeping economic reforms have grow to be plainly visible in a country increasingly divided between its rural and urban sectors.
Filmed in 5 different regions of China, UMBRELLA supplies a telling appear at the vast modifications that have taken place in Chinese society, including a massive migration from the countryside to the cities, the rise of a prosperous new class of businesspeople, millions of new college graduates competing for a shrinking number of jobs, and the neglect of China’s largest population group, its rural peasants.
Filmed in a purely observational style, with no narration or commentary, UMBRELLA shows the workaday life of young staff in a factory in Zhongshan, Guangdong Province, exactly where they engage in monotonous, endlessly and rapidly repeated routines to manufacture umbrellas, for which they are paid a meager piece price. At a huge purchasing mall, the “World’s Biggest Tiny Commodity Market,” in Yiwu, Zhejiang Province, these multicolored, multipatterned umbrellas are sold at much greater costs by wholesale merchants, who are amongst China’s nouveaux riche.
The film also shows throngs of young people filling out applications at a job fair in Shanghai or undergoing physical drills and ideological regimentation at a provincial garrison of the People’s Liberation Army. Ultimately, on a farm in Luoyang, Henan Province, we watch a group of elderly farmers struggle to salvage a premature harvest of drought-impacted wheat.
UMBRELLA makes sadly apparent the old adage about “the rich becoming richer and the poor becoming poorer,” with China’s peasant farmers, who are struggling to survive amidst the combined forces of globalization and the new Chinese economy, bearing the brunt of the country’s increasing pains.
“Fascinating, if brutally depressing. It paints a decidedly distinct image than the Chinese government would want you to think.”—Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
“In making a vast societal portrait by way of his focus on umbrellas, Du pulls off the rare feat of capturing the ephemeral.”—Jennique Mason, San Francisco Bay Guardian
Du Haibin was born in Baoji City in Shanxi Province in China. He studied painting from childhood. In 1993 he studied Painting and Photography at the Beijing Central Academy of Arts. In 1996 he entered Beijing Film Academy in the Photography division. In 1998 he began documentary filmmaking and inventive photography operate. Du Haibin has created many function documentaries and two fiction films.
IMG_4685
Image by uniondocs
Umbrella by Du Haibin
China, 2008, 93 minutes, digital projections
presented with
the MOCA Chinese Cinema Club
and the China Institute Sinomathèque Film Series
The system of economic reforms initiated in China in 1978 by Deng Xiaoping aimed to finance the modernization of the nation. But what Communist Celebration leaders named “Socialism with Chinese characteristics” looked suspiciously to a lot of as a return to capitalism. Right now, some three decades later, the results of these sweeping financial reforms have become plainly visible in a country increasingly divided amongst its rural and urban sectors.
Filmed in 5 different regions of China, UMBRELLA gives a telling appear at the vast adjustments that have taken place in Chinese society, which includes a huge migration from the countryside to the cities, the rise of a prosperous new class of businesspeople, millions of new college graduates competing for a shrinking quantity of jobs, and the neglect of China’s biggest population group, its rural peasants.
Filmed in a purely observational style, with no narration or commentary, UMBRELLA shows the workaday life of young workers in a factory in Zhongshan, Guangdong Province, exactly where they engage in monotonous, endlessly and quickly repeated routines to manufacture umbrellas, for which they are paid a meager piece price. At a massive buying mall, the “World’s Biggest Small Commodity Market,” in Yiwu, Zhejiang Province, these multicolored, multipatterned umbrellas are sold at considerably larger costs by wholesale merchants, who are amongst China’s nouveaux riche.
The film also shows throngs of young individuals filling out applications at a job fair in Shanghai or undergoing physical drills and ideological regimentation at a provincial garrison of the People’s Liberation Army. Ultimately, on a farm in Luoyang, Henan Province, we watch a group of elderly farmers struggle to salvage a premature harvest of drought-impacted wheat.
UMBRELLA makes sadly apparent the old adage about “the wealthy becoming richer and the poor becoming poorer,” with China’s peasant farmers, who are struggling to survive amidst the combined forces of globalization and the new Chinese economy, bearing the brunt of the country’s developing pains.
“Fascinating, if brutally depressing. It paints a decidedly various image than the Chinese government would want you to believe.”—Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
“In creating a vast societal portrait by means of his concentrate on umbrellas, Du pulls off the uncommon feat of capturing the ephemeral.”—Jennique Mason, San Francisco Bay Guardian
Du Haibin was born in Baoji City in Shanxi Province in China. He studied painting from childhood. In 1993 he studied Painting and Photography at the Beijing Central Academy of Arts. In 1996 he entered Beijing Film Academy in the Photography department. In 1998 he began documentary filmmaking and creative photography operate. Du Haibin has produced many feature documentaries and two fiction films.