THE OBSERVER

L'OBSERVATEUR

ICTV / ECRANS DES MONDES - as PROD

Documentary - Completed 2019

Encounter with a Chinese artist, who documents China’s forgotten history

    • Year of production
    • 2019
    • Genres
    • Documentary
    • Countries
    • ITALY
    • Languages
    • FRENCH, ENGLISH, ITALIAN
    • Budget
    • 1 - 3 M$
    • Duration
    • 79 mn
    • Synopsis
    • Hu Jie is now 60 years old. Son of military, he joined the army at age 19 and became a simple soldier, a mechanic, a student of painting at the School of Fine Arts of the Army ... until he left the Army and became a documentary filmmaker. Over the years, his works has given voice to the forgotten of History, through a huge body of work far from any television stereotypes: real archives, true testimonies of the life of Chinese wrestling with the events of the second half of the twentieth century.

      A recognized but discrete figure of Chinese independent cinema, this self-taught documentary maker and pioneer of Chinese audiovisual historical research allows us to discover his humanity and his social commitment under the benevolent eyes of Rita Andreetti, a young Italian film critic, herself an independent documentary filmmaker, in search of Chinese identity.

      Inspired by a tenacity and the inner strength of Hu Jie himself, the documentary tells, supported by few excerpts from his works, how his prolific filmic activity has recently turned into a more intimate pictorial production. Although under an increasing pressure, Hu Jie continues today, tirelessly, to fight for the truth in which he believes and has always believed.