Blossoming in the Wind
CHINA / 2004 / Tibetan, Mandarin / Color / Video / 60 min
Director, Script, Photography, Editing, Sound, Music: Sun Yueling
Producer: Zhang Kaiwen
Source: Sun Yueling
The film takes place in Deqing, in the Shangri-La district of Yunnan, China. Tibetan lamas, their young disciples, and the camera that follows them share a blissful journey of pilgrimage to sacred mountains covered with snow. The villagers and animals warmly welcome the troupe, who innocently trek through the sleet and snow with mischievous playfulness. Blue skies, white clouds, the tinkling of bells, the sound of footsteps, smiling faces and singing voices all bask in the glow of the transparent sunshine, amidst the joyous festivities of daily life. Animals and humans alike traverse freely through the realms of the sacred and earthly.
[Director’s Statement] Many people admire my job, which they think gives me a chance to travel and earn money at the same time. However, they misunderstand; their way of thinking is foolish, a way that modern people think. For me, it is not only a job, or a trip. I feel like a monk who travels around the world. And the shooting itself is similar to cultivating and reading the scripture, continuously training myself, not leaving anything to coincidence. I am still young and can walk a long way, I am escaping from the degeneration of the metropolis. I want to walk the longer path.
The wind, kissing my face, is not just a gust of fresh air, it has dirt and ashes too. And one place is sometimes pure but sometimes impure, stopping the Chinese documentary right there. We need to think more about how to overthrow those so-called traditional ways of narrating. That is possible now. I told myself, I have to shoot more fiercely, uninfluenced by others, or step aside to be my own bystander. Be more courageous, speak out your own words.
Sun Yueling
Born in 1980, Sun Yueling graduated from the Department of Stage Design at the Shanghai Theatre Academy in 2003, and participated as a cultural volunteer that year in Yunnan. He joined the Dragon Workroom in 2004 and completed Blossoming in the Wind. In 2005 he contributed to the making of several documentaries and dramas including Rest Area, DVD, The Beauty Also Worries about Marriage, Changing of Butterfly and Chi Jian, and began his graduate studies in the Department of Visual Arts at the Shanghai Theatre Academy. |