In the Background

2003/Color/DVCAM/30min
Location:Beijing
By:Zhang Hongfeng
E-mail:zyhf@sina.com

Screen
03/25 14 :00 1 hall
03/26 19:30 2 hall

The filmmaker had initially set out to film the demolition of Beijing’s old districts, but sensing there was some kind of significance in the fleeting image, he instead aimed his camera at the coal deliverers scurrying about in the background. This documentary relates the story of such a coal deliverer who, in order to earn enough money to pay for his eldest son’s bride price and keep the younger one in school, decides to forego his annual trip home for Chinese New Year, while far away in Zhangbei, his wife wraps dumplings for New Year’s dinner. This is the story of Lao Wang. It is also the story many others like him who, like the Forbidden City, are always in the background of Beijing alleys.

Zhang Hongfeng
Photojournalist, special assignment photographer for Xinhua News Agency, member of the Chinese Photographers’ Association, independent TV documentary producer and filmmaker, Zhang Hongfeng (b.1968 in Shanxi) joined the armed police force in Beijing in 1986 while launching his career in photojournalism. His films and photographs have been awarded both at home and abroad. He is a versatile photographer, shooting landscape, human geography and architecture subject matter. He also produces material for television.