Launched in 2005, the China Villager Documentary Project was initiated and implemented by Caochangdi Workstation, an independent art space in Beijing. Ten villagers based in nine different provinces were selected. Most had never touched a camera before. The ten successful candidates each received a video camera and production training at Caochangdi and went back to their home villages for a month to shoot their proposed films, all of which revolved around the theme of self-governance.

During the years of 2006, 2007 and 2008, Caochangdi Workstation continued the project independently by organizing four post-production training workshops (May 2006, May 2007, October 2007, May 2008) at Caochangdi for selected villager filmmakers. By the end of 2007, four of the ten filmmakers had completed their first feature-length documentary films. In 2008, they worked on their second feature-length documentary films. As part of a larger ongoing project, all the four films share the same title: My Village 2006 and My Village 2007.

1. Jia Zitan: My Village 2006
Color/70min/DV/2006

From the start, I simply relied on the DV camera in my hand to painstakingly record the history and development of our nascent Co-op. I figured, regardless of whether the Co-op fails or succeeds, it is still a true history of a spontaneous farmers’ social movement. Even if it’s a mere attempt, I want to dedicate it to the experts concerned with the “Three Rural Issues” (agriculture, the countryside, and farmers), and use these rich resources to petition for their support, so that ultimately we can increase people’s salaries and help them live better lives.
Just as the villagers were eagerly participating in organizing the Co-op, the county secretary asked me “Old Jia, there are so many things you can do, why do you insist on doing this?” “This is the spirit of cooperating with the Central Government…” I held up the camera and pointed it at him, and he shot me a glare, saying, “What are you filming?! Even if a government reporter came, he could film only if I gave him my permission. You, you’re just a common people’s organization!” As he talked, he walked out the rear door, and at that point the situation took a sudden turn. A lot of sensible people thought the county government wouldn’t lift a finger to help: “This isn’t one of those groups like Falungong, is it?”
Even though there were so many of them who didn’t believe, everyone still stuck together, studying the policies, mobilizing people, learning techniques, running as messengers... Not long after, we were noticed by the city and county media, and they came one by one to interview and report on us. The village government actually welcomed them warmheartedly, and during this time I stumbled upon an excellent eating opportunity: I got to enter the usually restricted village government’s best canteen.
The words the secretary spoke cannot be changed easily, so we still have a long way to go; but at least they haven’t taken away my DV camera, so I will continue to record the everyday needs of the villagers around me.

Director's Statement:
I always carried my camera, endlessly filming the people and events around me. During this process, I came into contact with various situations that were to the leaders’ benefit and to my ridicule. My wife felt my constant filming never amounted to even half a substantial benefit, so she grew frustrated and complained. Only the other villagers found this never-before-seen “foreigner’s toy” to be curious and refreshing, asking me to film their every joy, frustration, and sorrow. While I was documenting the everyday lives of the villagers, we also relied on some filmed testimony to represent disadvantaged minority groups, using the facts to pour out their troubles to the higher ups. We were actually able to help an 83-year-old woman who had accidentally fallen and broken her leg. We went to the county government to look for the county official, and managed to help her get 800 yuan medical treatment reimbursement. Because of this, the villagers consider me the reporter on our own soil, a man who participated in an event in the emperor’s city (Caochangdi), and has much influence and ability.

Jia Zitan: My Village 2007
Color/80min/DV/2007

My Village 2007, my third work after My Village 2006, is a continuation of my 2005 short film, Quarry. It continues to follow the large and small issues of my village, including the difficult process of starting the “Shimen County Dedicated Orange Co-operative,” and our opening elections for both the county and village representatives. At one point, I trained my lens on group leader Liu Dingcai and asked him to discuss the elections. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, he admitted, “The representatives we’re choosing from have all been handed down to us from above. I asked Party member Jia Zhiyun the same thing, and he told me he could only talk if I put my camera away, fearing that if any of my material got on TV it would be inappropriate.
Also, the South Creek River that runs through our village was being heavily polluted by the Wang Yan Coal Mine. Let’s not talk of people drinking the water, even wearing clothes washed in the river caused sores on people’s skin. At the insistence of my fellow villagers, and with the county television station’s support, I started to film the situation as a way of appealing to the higher authorities for a solution to the problem. After I started filming, the village secretary advised me not to “air our dirty laundry,” claiming that no enterprise can run without negative effects. When I tried filming in the coal mine, Manager Li wanted me to present my “press credentials.” Of course, I had none to present, so he exploded and threatened to destroy my camera. My heart jumped into my throat; I was so afraid that if he swiped my camera and destroyed it, this passion of mine would have no future.
Recording the everyday life of my village, its history and meaning, has deep and far-reaching implications. For one, it gives the villagers a voice, and it can also help resolve some of the issues they face, particularly ones in which they feel helpless. During the election, both the party member and group leader were afraid to speak truthfully in front of my camera: “What if my words are exposed?” So, thanks to some of my newfound skills, I shut my LCD screen and capped my lens, but left the camera running, so that I could continue recording their innermost thoughts. They didn’t realize this, so they began to say what they were really thinking. TV stations will never broadcast this, but I captured rare material, showing everyone the truth about our elections: who the candidates were, the fact that they were handpicked by the village long ago and plopped before our district, and that the villagers voting are really just idle puppets.
Interestingly, the villagers asked me repeatedly to film the pollution of the South Creek River. The county television station sent people over, in the spirit of cooperating with the Central Government’s Environmental Administration. They said they wanted to use my DV footage that speaks out for the villagers to make a documentary, so that I can participate in an annual film awards selection at the provincial level. Their words excited me.
The Central Government’s policies regarding environmental pollution are good, and they are truly concerned about villagers’ welfare. But once the policies reach the lower levels of government, the leaders all shield one another, and make corrupt deals with businessmen. Before, there was a fund of 2 million or so yuan that was intended for pollution management and claims, but even that was embezzled by them for other uses. The masses reported them for an audit, so they were supposed to submit their records, but they refused.
The villagers were infuriated; they gave generously and it was always, “Five for you, ten for him.” They nominated Chen Jingshu, Wu Yuman, and myself to appeal to the provincial capital at Changsha, and also to send our appeal materials and a DVD of my shots of the pollution issue to Prime Minister Wen at the State Department.
I’m just a 60-year-old man, who will never be an official, and never strike it rich. If in my lifetime I can help the villagers speak out, help solve some of their problems, and give expression to the value of life, that would be my greatest joy.

Jia Zhitan (b.1950. Yuanyichang Village, Hunan Province)
Jia Zhitan joined Caochangdi’s Villager Documentary Project in 2005 and completed a documentary short entitled Quarry. Since then, he has completed two feature-length projects, My Village 2006 and My Village 2007.

2 Shao Yuzhen: My Village 2006
Color/80min/DV/2006

Shao Yuzhen is a 59-year-old farmer living in a village on the outskirts of Beijing. Her documentary filmmaking practice started in 2005, when she was selected to be one of the ten national participants of the China Villager Documentary Project. She was awarded a digital video camera and has been using it to document her life and lives of her fellow villagers ever since. During the production of her first documentary short, Shao Yuzhen developed a personal approach to documentary filmmaking. This film vividly captures the life of an ordinary village woman as she juggles her family life, rural work, village social life on a daily basis. In a uniquely “Shao style,” the film also documents the villagers' encounters with mass media professionals (who represent “the world beyond the village”) and interactions between the villagers and the “outsiders.”

Director's Statement:
I have spent the entire 50-odd years of my life in my little village home, dividing my time between farm work and piles of house chores. After a hard day's work in the field, my husband would come home, rest and watch TV, while I would cook, do the laundry and get other housework done. Years went by while life repeated itself day after day. There was little left for our children and grandchildren. Now that I am armed with a digital video camera, I can leave an account of my life and the lives of my fellow villagers. This will be our legacy to be passed on to the next generations.

Shao Yuzhen: My Village 2007
Color/70min/DV/2007

I’ve been filming with a DV camera for three years already. I followed my first film, My Village 2006, with another feature length film, My Village 2007. This film records some of the changes that occurred in my village in the year 2007, some of the villagers’ hard labor, some cultural events, folk customs, marriage and burial rites, events put on by the Village Committee, the annual soil contracting, and the elections that take place every four years. I also filmed my family’s life; if I want to continue making films, and making good ones, I cannot walk away from the support and understanding of my family members. So, as I persist in making films, I am deeply concerned with my family’s attitudes. As I filmed my village, I attracted the attention of various media: in 2007, Shunyi Television Station, Beijing Broadcasting Station, Jingjiao Daily News, Beijing Television Station, and Xinhua News Agency all came one after another to interview my family and myself. Every time they came, my camera was also ready to film them. It was like giving them a taste of their own medicine!

Director's Statement:
I am a village housewife, almost 60 years old, with only a junior high education. Before, I did not even know what a documentary was. In 2005, I became one of ten people chosen to participate in the Villager Documentary Project, and was fortunate enough to become familiar with Mr. Wu and his Caochangdi Workstation. Under Mr. Wu’s and the Workstation’s help and support, I was able to complete filming for my short film, I Film My Village, as well as the filming and editing of my two feature-length films, My Village 2006 and My Village 2007. Before, I was a simple instrument for planting crops and caring for children, but now I’ve taken steps forward by learning how to film using a DV camera, edit footage on a computer, and send and receive emails on the Internet. I realize this is a giant leap in my life, like I’ve taken flight. Since then, I’ve become fascinated with documentary film. Given my situation, I can really only film my village and the people around me and their daily activities. The people in front of my lens are just minor characters, but I believe that these minor characters—although they live in the lower rungs of society—actually form our society’s roots and foundation. I am also one of them, living among them; as I film my village, my hand carries out what my heart desires, without much conflict. In the future, if circumstances allow, there will be My Village 2008, 2009, 2010… I think, after many years have passed, these films will constitute a video archive of my village. When I go to heaven, I will have no regrets—I’ll have left my footprint in this world.

Shao Yuzhen
Shao Yuzhen is a 59-year-old farmer living in a village on the outskirts of Beijing. Her documentary filmmaking practice started in 2005, when she was selected to be one of the ten national participants of the China Villager Documentary Project. During the production of her first documentary short, Shao Yuzhen developed a personal approach to documentary filmmaking. Since then, she has completed two feature-length projects, My Village 2006 and My Village 2007.

3. Zhang Huancai: My Village 2006
Color/90min/DV/2006

This film documents filmmaker Zhang Huancai’s fellow villagers as they live their lives, manage their daily chores, and go through joys and sorrows. Zhang also shares with his audience moments of his family life, as he and his wife nag, tease, fight with each other while staggering on towards a possibly better-off future—typical hardship and hopes of the nation’s “rank and file.”

Director's Statement:
Chickens always seem to be able to find their way to food. Smart or hard-working chickens are soon well-fed and so are their kids. I think farmers are like chickens—they have to go and find food every single day and only the smart or diligent ones become better-off than their peers. I myself am a “chicken” who is never content with being just fed well. Yet apart from trying to bring home the bacon, I dream of indulging myself in high-brow literature and digital video filmmaking. As a result, I am not well-fed nor am I able to provide a good living for my wife and child. My wife always complains that I do not know where I belong, while some village folks sneer at my dreams as they think I am craving for what I am not worthy of. Well, in every village, there must be a handful of people who refuse to abandon their dreams. They may choose to focus on calligraphy and art or on dramas and literature. Like me, they do not use their energy solely on “finding the food,” so they cannot possibly be well-fed either. When I film my family life, I mean to document what life means to these dreamers who live in the countryside. Besides, I would like to also document how hard it is for “chickens,” be they well-fed, ill-fed or averagely-fed, to “find their food.” It has never been easy for any of the “chickens” to make a living. We all have our share of hardship. This was my entry point to the production of My Village 2006.

Zhang Huancai: My Village 2007
Color/80min/DV/2007

Director:
The year 2007 wasn’t anything special. Compared to 2006, our village’s lifestyle had not changed much. We still ravage the depths of our soil for food, explore every corner of our village for sustenance, and even scour every corner of the city to survive. We are like a flock of wild chickens with no farmer pouring feed; our village only gives us all a place to lay down our heads, while the city’s promise of work and sustenance calls us to scatter to the four winds.
The weather in 2007 was very temperamental. The spring and summer were both extremely dry, so the summer harvest was small. The autumn rain was good, so the fall harvest was successful. The film also features a grain farmer’s complaints. He voiced his grievances before the camera in hopes that it would be screened before government officials, perhaps bringing him some compensation for his troubles; clearly, he greatly overestimated my abilities.
The winter of 2007 also brought several snowstorms, so shots of the snow make up the beginning and end of my film. The snow continued for four or five months, blanketing the village in a world of silver white. I love the village in its clean, white brilliance—perhaps too much, as there are far too many shots pertaining to the snow.
There was also a very important event in our village in 2007: choosing the representative members for our county and village. The members of our village associations say, “This has nothing to do with us,” but half of them still ran in the elections. I filmed this whole process, and edited it into my film. As for the rest, it’s mostly just us common village folk living our everyday lives: our bad days; planting in the fall, harvesting in summer; then planting in summer, harvesting in the fall; people are born, grow old, get sick, and die; we eat, drink, and be merry; we gamble our nights away; we sell pigs and chase rabbits… It’s just life; all I can do is let my camera capture it.

Zhang Huancai (b.1960. Shijiazhai, Sha’anxi Province)
Zhang Huancai is a farmer who occasionally leaves his village to find odd jobs in the city. Zhang joined Villager Documentary Project in 2006, with whose support he finished his first documentary short A Futile Election. My Village in Year 2006 is his first feature-length documentary film.

4. Wang Wei: My Village 2006
Color/75min/DV/2006

At the beginning of the film, Wang Wei shot himself delivering a monologue in front of the camera. This is Wang Wei’s way of expressing his wish to intervene in village affairs with his digital video camera, and document and interact with realities. As an active member of his community, during the filming Wang Wei devotes his time and energy to disadvantaged people. There were promising and discouraging moments along the way. This film captures these moments as well as the director’s emotional responses.

Director's Statement:
Being a farmer myself, I know the stress of hardship which my fellow villagers endure. I too have my share of helplessness. For Chinese farmers, life is endless toil sustained by a meager diet. The farmers may seem to belong to our time, but in actual fact have fallen far behind in all senses. I strove to stay quiet while filming them in order to keep a record of their silent existence in this loud “harmonious Socialist society” of ours.

Wang Wei: My Village 2007
Color/70min/DV/2007

My Village 2007 is a film featuring some scattered shots that I filmed in the year 2007, during meaningful and not so meaningful times. From my perspective, village life is just very routine—so routine that it frustrates me a little. Although my fellow villagers use cell phones, watch television, and may even have computers (at least the more well-off do), their status as a farmer is still etched onto their bodies, etched onto my body.
As farmers, we can only look on helplessly as revenues dwindle and we need subsidies to stay afloat. We watch helplessly as the prices of seed and fertilizer skyrocket, and as the price of meat follows the steady climb of the price of pigs, not to mention prices of feed, kerosene, pesticides, and coal. We like to chat about what prices aren’t rapidly climbing, but there are fewer and fewer topics that fit the bill. We also watch helplessly as the village’s sand, worth tens of thousands of yuan, is given away to other people when it shouldn’t even have been sold; or when those who should be elected are never elected, and a small village director beats someone until his eardrum bursts and no one did a thing. I had no choice but to watch helplessly as a band of strangers came to my chicken shed in the middle of the night, chased away my guard dogs, and made a show of hitting me over the head with a rod. I could only watch helplessly as my blood flowed from the wound.
I can only watch helplessly. I watch. I am watching.
These events make up our lives. I can’t always capture everything and weave it into my film. I recognize that I am far from being a professional, so much so that I can’t even say I am filming all that diligently or conscientiously. I can only comfort myself with this thought: that I never chose this life.

Wang Wei (b.1977. Guanyinsi Wngjia Village, Shandong Province)
Formerly a soldier, Wang Wei decided to return to his home village after military service, hoping to make a difference in his impoverished village. He joined the Villager Documentary Project in 2005, generating his first complete short “Land Distribution.” Since then, he has completed two feature length projects, My Village 2006 and My Village 2007.