Film on local river history wins Ibis Awards
Print Edition
A film chronicling the history of Huangpu River’s Minhang section from the perspective of a Gen Z high school student won multiple honors during the 2024 Asian International Film Festival Golden Ibis Award ceremony.
It features the fictional character of Ye Xiaorong, a high school student, who travels to the past of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) where he meets Ye Zongxing, a young scholar from the Yejiahang area in what is now Pujiang Town, Minhang District. Together, they successfully carry out a water-control project.
The mighty Huangpu River of Shanghai used to be a small river. Together with the Loujiang and Wusong rivers — the Wusong River is called Suzhou Creek now in its Shanghai section — it originated from the Taihu Lake in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and headed to the East China Sea.
Due to both natural and man-made causes, sand gradually silted up the three rivers from the Song Dynasty era (AD 960-1279) and the Taihu Lake flooded frequently due to poor drainage. The condition worsened during the early Ming.
Ye Zongxing proposed his water-control measures regardless of his grassroots identity and low social status.
He suggested to broaden the Huangpu River and combine it with the Wusong River and allow the two rivers to run together into the sea.
The combined estuary had a better water flow and rapid torrents, and therefore reduced the possibility of silting once proper management was adopted.
The water-control project paved the way for Shanghai’s future status as an essential harbor in the Orient.
The film on Minhang and Shanghai stood out from the 619 entries from 23 countries and regions globally, and won the best playwright and best new director awards, and was nominated for best film.
A collective memory
“Floods are a collective memory in both the West and the East,” said Hu Muyang, producer of “Ye Zongxing,” the film.
“The story of water-control on the Huangpu River plays a good role in delivering the story of Chinese civilization, especially among Gen Z globally.”
The film will be promoted in Bilibili, a popular youth video social platform in China, around the New Year.
“The young generation of China highly regard environment protection and innovation,” said Lu Yajun, president of the Bilibili center of public policy research.
“‘Ye Zongxing’ touches on the theme of environment protection in traditional culture in an innovative way and is likely to be another catalyst to boost Bilibili’s creative atmosphere, while striking a chord among its young audience.”
“It’s better to tell a historic story through a character than simply listing historic facts in international cultural communication, as the film ‘Ye Zongxing’ has achieved,” said Luo Yi, deputy chief of Shanghai Cultural and Tourism Bureau. “Visual effects count and good delivery of emotion also counts.”
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