Dir. Gu Tao. China. 2013. 100 min. Chinese with English subtitles.
For five years, filmmaker Gu Tao follows Weijia, a member of the Ewenti minority group with a dwindling population in northern China. The charismatic and yet often drunk herdsman/hunter wanders in the woods, releasing moose from wire traps set by antler traders, singing his heart out, and getting completely wasted. Behind his tough façade and drunkenness is a deep despair caused by the gradual destruction of his habitat and culture, as Han Chinese displace his people and cause irreversible harm to the Ewenti way of life.
Q&A to follow with Zhao Jiewei, Cinematographer. Moderated by La Frances Hui, Film Curator, Asia Society.
"An audacious and powerful visual chronicle of the fortunes of a dying breed"--Clarence Tsui, The Hollywood Reporter