Chen Jiayong
Lin Xin
Release year: 2015
Run time: 102
Film type: Documentary
Synopsis
An individual's life experience is always a reflection and epitomisation of their times. Through the environment, literature, oral narration, calligraphy, and paintings, this film faithfully records the upbringing, family circumstances, and life of the painter Chen Jiayong. His life experience are typical of countless ordinary intellectuals who have disappeared in the dust of time. At the same time, he is a window onto this period of history.
Director biography
Lin Xin was born in 1960. He has held several painting and calligraphy solo exhibitions in various locations including the Art Museum of China in Beijing, and in Xi’an. His documentary films include Chen Lu, Sanlidong, Classmates, Gas, Preachers, Koudelka, Chen Jiayong, Riverbed and Single Women. Lin Xin has had painting catalogues published, a collection of poems and a monograph, Sanlidong: The Image History of Migrant Miners from Shanghai.
Director's statement
Chen Jiayong was my painting teacher. I met him in the 1970s when he was in despair. In nearly 30 years of communication since, he always guided me as a strict teacher and never talked about his personal experiences. It wasn't until 10 years after his death that I made this documentary, and the ups and downs of his life history were revealed to me, page by page. What is admirable is that, after many hardships and purges of political movements, he still maintained a pure and youthful quality to him.