Liu Yongzhou and His Puppets
2004/Color/DV/47min
Location:Tengchong, Yunnan
By:Li Jianqin
E-mail:jqltc@hotmail.com
Screen
03/23 14 :00 2 hall
03/25 9:00 3 hall
The beautiful family courtyard garden where the Liu family has passed down the art of puppeteering for generations serves as a background to this film that examines the art of shadow play in the television and mass media era. Liu Yongzhou, the main protagonist, fights to preserve his art, its use of dialect, its storytelling techniques and imagery by teaching puppeteering classes and taking in apprentices. Unfortunately, his efforts have little impact.
He earns a living through ornamental wood carving, a craft he practices with his eldest son. Although his son loves puppets, he too must work as a craftsman for a living. All the shadow play aficionados in the village have high hopes for the younger Liu. However, Liu Yongzhou's grandsons are growing up in conditions much like those their grandfather before them, and they know some simple plays. What the future has in store, only time can tell.
Li Jianqin
Li Jianqin was a participant in the joint visual anthropology training program, organized in collaboration with IWF in Goettingen, Germany, and awarded an MA in Anthropology from Yunnan University in 2001. Since receiving her degree, she has been researching traditional culture and community natural resources management, and community development at the Southwest Forestry Institute.
Filmography
No More Bound Feet, 2000
Liu Yongzhou and his Puppets, 2004
Jinping Hani (Akha) Traditional Culture and Natural Resources Management Series, 2004
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