Before the Flood

2004/Color/DV/150min
Location:Fengjie, Chongqing
By:Li Yifan & Yan Yu
E-mail:dtvl@sohu.com
lyf6653@yahoo.com.cn

Screen
03/24 19 :30 1 hall
03/25 9:00 2 hall


In order to build the world’s largest hydroelectric dam, the area surrounding the Three Gorges will be turned into the world’s largest reservoir. Beginning in 2003 and to be completely filled by 2009, the flooding will wipe towns, villages, fertile land, archeological sites and natural sights located along the Yangtze River off the map forever. Even Fengjie County, famous for being the home of the Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai, will disappear under the waves. This film faithfully follows the whole devastating process as the advancing waters submerge Fengjie County in the first trial flooding in 2002. It relates the story of an ex-volunteer soldier owner of a coolie hostel who is about to lose his livelihood and the story of a Protestant parish in decline because its members are slowly moving away. It also relates the stories of the cadres in charge of the resettlement and the subsequent erupting disputes and emotional turmoil. Before the Flood is both directors’ first film.

Festivals and Awards
Wolfgang Staudte Award, Berlin Film Festival, 2005
Cinema du Réel International Documentary Film Festival, France, 2005.

Li Yifan
Born in 1966 in Chongqing, Li Yifan studied at the Central Drama Academy in Beijing from 1986 to 1991, after which he worked in advertising in Guangzhou. In 1996, he returned to Chongqing to become a writer. From 2000 to 2001 he was the Editor in Chief of Yu Zhou Fuwu Bao. In 2001 he began working in documentary film production and co-founded Fanyu Studio.

Yan Yu
Yan Yu was born in Chongqing in 1971. He launched his career as a photojournalist at the Chongqing TV Station News Center where he worked from 1994 to 1998. Afterward, he moved on to Beijing and worked in documentary and advertisement photography. He began working in documentary film production and co-founded Fanyu Studio in 2001.