Mapi
Xu Xin
Release year: 2002
Run time: 80 mins
Film type: Documentary
Synopsis
Spring in Maoshan, a township in Taizhou, northern Jiangsu Province. As the villagers prepare for their annual temple fair to pay their respects to Chairman Mao, tempers are fraying. Festival director Jin Shifang faces many obstacles organising this event, from wayward loudspeakers and corrupt police, to infighting and insubordinate underlings. An observational documentary that captures the lives of ordinary people in rural China caught in changing times.
Director biography
Xu Xin was born in Taizhou, Jiangsu Province, in 1966. He is an independent documentary filmmaker based in Beijing and Nanjing. In his early years, he experimented with oil paintings and photography. His documentaries focus on marginalized communities in China.