Watermarks: Three Letters from China
Director: Luc Schaedler
Switzerland | Chinese
2013 | 80min | Colour
Subtitles: English
Saturday, Nov 1 Clubhouse, 1:45 PM
Based on three different places, the film portrays the infractions to which people living in modern day China are subjected due to rapid developments: in the deceptively idyllic Jiuxiancun in the rainy south; in the apocalyptic coal mining site of Minqin and Wusutu in the parched north; and in Chongqing, the megacity on the Yangtze River. The protagonists give their moving accounts of an unresolved past, an uncertain present and their tentative steps into the future.
Luc Schaedler
Luc Schaedler completed Studies in Cultural Anthropology, Film and Social History at Zurich University, Switzerland. He holds degrees in Visual Anthropology, having completed Made in Hong Kong (1997) as part of his MA and Angry Monk (2005) as part of his Ph.D. Since 1998 he has been a freelance filmmaker and producer. From 2006 to 2008 he was the head of the department of Visual Anthropology at the Anthropological Museum of Zurich University. He was a mentor of the visual works of MA students. Since 2001 Schaedler lectures at Zurich University to various topics related to film, documentary (in theory and practice), cultural and visual anthropology, Buddhism and Tibet. He collaborated as program coordinator in the art house cinema Xenix in Zurich for many years (1986-2002) as well as several film festivals in Switzerland and abroad. He also collaborated in establishing the children’s film club Magic Lantern in Zurich (1998/2000), and was the co-founder of the anthropological student’s film festival Regard Bleu at the Anthropological Museum of Zurich University (2002). Since 1988 he has gone on journeys, research and working visits to India, China, Tibet and Japan.
Credits
Director: Luc Schaedler
Producer: Luc Schaedler
Screenwriter: Luc Schaedler
Cinematographer: Luc Schaedler
Editor: Martin Witz
Music Roland Widmer
Production Company: Go Between Films gmbh
Cast: Chen Chaomei, Wu Dengming, Li Yunchuang, Li Yuming, Wie Guancai
Festival Appearances & Awards
Silk Road Film Festival, 2014
Best Documentary TRT Documentary Awards, 2014
Republic of Turkey Ministry of Culture & Tourism Special Prize Festival International du Film d’Environnement, 2014
DOK.fest Munich, 2014
Planete Doc Film Festival, 2014