Farmland Dreamland Super-8-Film von Qianlin Zhao

Henan Province, located in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, is one of the birthplaces of ancient Chinese civilization, consisting of plains and basins, mountains, hills, and river and sea surfaces.

D/C 2025
Super-8
Super-8-Film von Qianlin Zhao

Heavy Rainstorms in July 2021 led to flooding in the city Zhengzhou. Many people died and disappeared. Rainstorms in July 2024 struck again. Cities and towns were flooded. Yet crops and land will face winter frosts again after the summer floods.

The rainstorms had reduced crop production and damaged land, leaving farmers without their main source of income. In order to restore production and land, farmers need to invest a lot of labour force and resources in land remediation and restoration.
The disaster brought a double blow and stress both economically and psychologically. The land and people need to recuperate and recover. Economic pressures and the vagaries of climate and its effects on the body and mind. Is there a lack of social
concern and assistance at the grassroots level (farmers) based on the experience of two natural disasters and multiple difficulties?

In a similar situation, Chinese opera, an intangible cultural heritage, as a cultural expression rooted in the vernacular society, is closely linked to rural life, festivals and rituals. It is not only a form of literature and art, but also a spiritual carrier in the farming culture system. However, in recent years, due to factors such as population mobility (out-migration), audience disconnection (aging), and the lack of resources for education and inheritance (lack of protection and investment), traditional culture has become disconnected and gapped from modern life, and like the farmers and the land, opera is waiting for an echo. When society focuses on macroeconomic development and urban construction, has it neglected the continuity and recovery of grassroots
culture and spiritual life? Culture, like ecology, is part of the community of life.

Where is our attention? Where are their voices?