- China
PEOPLE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE SEA
Synopsis
Tie, a farmer in the south-western Chinese province of Guizhou, loses his younger brother: a man named Xiao Qiang has killed him and fled. Nothing is to be expected from the police. So Tie sets out to search for him himself, across the country, through cities and building sites and into the illegal coal mines where people who no one is looking for disappear. Along the way he crosses paths with his former girlfriend Tianxin, who has a child by him. “People Mountain People Sea” by Cai Shangjun, China 2011, is based on a case from 2007, in which brothers hunted down the killer of their youngest brother on their own.
Cai paints a pitch-black picture of corruption and injustice and brings it to Venice without the approval of Chinese censors, where the film screened in competition in 2011 and won the Silver Lion for best director. It did not reach Chinese cinemas until 2012, in a version with an altered ending. The film was shown at Around the World in 14 Films in Berlin in 2012.
Festival
Shown at the 2012 edition of Around the World in 14 Films.
