frauke at large

Had an invitation in Shanghai last night to go and attend a screening of a documentary shot in Guilin, in the area of the three gorges, on the relocation and hardship of the locals as a result of the three gorges dam.

 

Met up with my friend in the evening and after entering the back alley of a side street of another side street somewhere off Weihai Lu (Shanghai), we entered an old deserted warehouse, which had been turned into a loft-like cinema, with old red velvet sofas, bamboo stools, a big which sheet as screen, a projector and big ceiling fans. The atmosphere was just fabulous and it was great to finally see the inside of at least one of the buildings off the roads I had walk past on several occasions during my travels in Shanghai. It felt a little as though the boho art community had come together to watch what was essentially a critical, ethnographic piece of work on existentialism and the struggle, determination and relentlessness of one woman to leave behind what was her pride and life’s work (i.e. the home she had built with her husband and the land she cultivated around it). The documentary was shot over a period of 10 years, sometimes secretly, particularly when government representatives were visiting villagers to verbally exercise pressure to pack up and move.

The ‘relocation program’ was designed to move the locals up to 120 km further downstream, or onto higher ground, to allow for the flooding of their homes. Many of the locals were offered as little as 650 Yuan per head to pack their belongings and rebuild their homes in different areas. The poverty, despair and struggle for money and survival was made clear by the meticulous removal, storage and then shipping of the roof tiles of the house which people were leaving behind, all done in a effort to recycle resources and to be able to use the compensation money to rebuild homes and acquire new land. As land has very complicated ownership laws in China, and since it is the source for survival of the people living in rural and remote areas, being able to cultivate land around their house is crucial. The film showed heartbreaking scenes of village committee meetings were land was redistributed using majority voting, often tearing apart land that had been occupied by one family for several generations. It also showed negotiations of individuals trying to keep land which had natural water sources and electricity pylons on it, something of a luxury and unfortunately not guaranteed upon relocation.

Having been to Yunan and having seen the beauty of the gorge – although the documentary was shot several hundreds of kilometers further downstream – I could really empathise with the reluctance of the people wanting to leave their homes, although obviously it is not the beauty but the land and therefore their existence which people were unwilling and simply cannot afford to leave behind. The protagonist resisted relocation for over 8 years, until finally water levels were so threateningly high that her family had to move. Utterly heartbreaking. In the end it was great to see the reactions of the audience, their empathy and their many questions provoked by the sober yet powerful story conveyed. A documentation of the life and history of the people and a place which is now fully submerged and lost forever. I was really glad that I had had the opportunity to experience this film screening and to get a more in-depth and real life insight into China, its people, their search for stability and self in such times of turmoil and change.

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