The Village of Ten Acres

This poetic documentary focuses on the life of villagers in a remote village in the mountains of Shanxi, in the southern part of China. Their lifestyle has not changed for many decades. The young men have to leave their homes in order to make money, mostly as factory workers. Their health suffers and they live in poverty. The families live separately, but the hope that the son will build a new house one day keeps their spirits up. During shooting, a house was in fact built. We witness the destruction of the old and the creation of the new. But nevertheless, it seems as if time has stopped in the village. In the sequences of the homecoming of one of the workers and the confrontation with the old life style in the village after being away for many years, the filmmakers succeed in expressing human consolation, but also great sadness. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)