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China Villagers Documentary Project
Documentary Programme
Crossing Festival
Documentary Furom: May Festival
Tian Li

Director/ Camera/ Editing/Producer: Song Tian
Length: 96 min
Production: 2006
Synopsis:
Chen Guobin, the owner of the “Tianli Grocery Store” at Tianli, Guangming Village. Three years ago, he was a teacher of the secondary school at the village, but he quit and went into business. As he is a very knowledgeable, smart person and especially he makes fair business, he is quite popular among the villagers. For many of them, his grocery store is also a place for getting together: playing majong, drinking, quarrelling, grumbling, boasting, talking about the current affairs and even the rumours… Everyday things come up.

Recently, there will be an election of the leaders of village Committee. Villagers are angry with the present leader Chen Xiang, as he never takes care of the affairs of the village. The wells at Tianli were damaged so that people could not get the water for over a year. However, the village committee just turned a blind eye to it. So Chen Guobin decided to do something secretly with the other villagers to get rid of Chen Xiang, and to vote for their ideal candidate, Liu Fuchun…
The election is finished, and the wells are under construction. Chen Guobin and the others villagers are quite happy. Everything in the grocery store seems to be back to normal. The winter is coming, and the life goes on at Tianli.

SONG Tian, born in 1980 in Harbin. Chinese. She graduated from Shanghai Teachers University, and is studying the Professional Master’s Degree in The Metiers of Documentary Films at The University of Provence (Marseille I), France now. Her documentary films: “Y a de tout le monde dans le monde” (2005, 52 min, Co-director), “Tian Li” (2006, 96 min, won the prize of “China Village Self-governance Film Project”).