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My Father’s House

Zhao Dayong

Release year: 2011

Run time: 77 min

Film type: Documentary

Synopsis

Here, whether they are African or Chinese, all are joined in the struggle to find a home where they are free to live and follow their own beliefs. My Father's House explores the dynamics of the growing African community in the booming Chinese metropolis of Guangzhou through the troubled story of an underground African missionary church. After experiencing a revelation in his native Nigeria that urges him to take the word of God to China, Pastor Daniel Michael Enyeribe joins a wave of African migrants to the booming merchant community in Guangzhou. There he establishes the Royal Victory Church, which serves as a seminary and worship centre for Guangzhou's growing community of African traders. But after the church is raided by Chinese police enforcing strict laws on religious practice and missionary work, Pastor Daniel must seek refuge in neighbouring Hong Kong, where he guides his congregation, and the building of a sprawling new church facility, with the aid of video conferencing. Pastor Ignatius, known by the nickname "I.G.", takes on responsibility for the daily management of the church in Pastor Daniel's absence, struggling to support his Chinese wife and their young child.

 

Director biography

Zhao Dayong is an internationally celebrated director working in independent film, based in China. Zhao's work in documentary and feature film explores themes of existential anxiety and spiritual bankruptcy in the face of a China that is rapidly transforming. A present day social and economic situation in which history, culture, meaning, and even love and family, are often destroyed in the pursuit of mirages of prosperity. Zhao's works combine a strong artistic sensibility with an eye for raw, revealing, and poetic moments.