Grandpa and Father
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Country/Region:
Taiwan
Release Year: 2020
Release Year: 2020
Story:
Filmmaker Deng Wei’s grandfather Zuogui has been blind since the age of three, living most of his life as a fortune-teller to raise his family. He has grown increasingly embittered towards his son Donggu (Wei’s father), a property developer set on earning the respect not afforded him as a child. Although the signs portend failure for him, Donggu persists in his pursuit of money, exacerbating the discord between him and his father. “What must be, must be. Everything is determined by fate, not humans,” warns Zuogui. As the frail old man approaches the final chapter of his life, will fate forever keep father and son apart, or can it heal the very wounds it created between them?
Filmmaker Deng Wei’s grandfather Zuogui has been blind since the age of three, living most of his life as a fortune-teller to raise his family. He has grown increasingly embittered towards his son Donggu (Wei’s father), a property developer set on earning the respect not afforded him as a child. Although the signs portend failure for him, Donggu persists in his pursuit of money, exacerbating the discord between him and his father. “What must be, must be. Everything is determined by fate, not humans,” warns Zuogui. As the frail old man approaches the final chapter of his life, will fate forever keep father and son apart, or can it heal the very wounds it created between them?
Casts & Crews:
DENG Wei
Directors
Runtime:
96
minutes
Language:
Mandarin Chinese, Hunan dialect
Subtitles:
Chinese, English
Festivals & Awards:
2021 DOXA Documentary Film Festival-Feature Documentary Award, Canada 2020 Golden Horse Film Festival-Best Documentary, Taiwan 2021 DOK Leipzig Golden Dove Award for Long Documentary & Animated Film, Germany 2021 Asian American International Film Festival-Emerging Director Award, Feature Documentary, USA 2021 Entrevues Belfort Film Festival Grand Prix Janine Bazin for Feature Documentary, France
2021 DOXA Documentary Film Festival-Feature Documentary Award, Canada 2020 Golden Horse Film Festival-Best Documentary, Taiwan 2021 DOK Leipzig Golden Dove Award for Long Documentary & Animated Film, Germany 2021 Asian American International Film Festival-Emerging Director Award, Feature Documentary, USA 2021 Entrevues Belfort Film Festival Grand Prix Janine Bazin for Feature Documentary, France
Tags:
#Family-relationships #Present-day-provincial-China #Traditional-values-versus-modern-societal-pressures
Director‘s Statement:
Life is a spontaneous chance. From the moment each and every one of us is born into this world, we create a blood bond with others as family and relatives. This film a true story of my grandfather Zuogui, and father Donggu. Donggu is a real estate "boss" who spends most of his life building houses for other people. But against Zuogui's protest, he demolishes the old house in which Zuogui spends his life living, causing a rift between them. Zuogui is a blind man and works as a fortune-teller. He knows his predetermined fate but keeps fighting it all his life. Also knowing the fate of his son Donggu, Zuogui puts aside the past and, out of love, tries to persuade Donggu to stop his project. One side is this determined disaster, the other side is the reality of cruel reality, Donggu and Zuogui struggle between the course of China's modernization and social transformation, pondering on their life direction. When I grow up, my father grows old and my grandfather says it’s his time to go. Thankfully, I am able to record this last part of my grandfather's life, as well as images and voices of his and my father's generation on affection, love, dignity, loneliness, hometown, life, and death. When I create an emotional bond between them, I get a deeper comprehension of life. Life has its course and an end, yet the everlasting, hidden emotions are proof that we have ever been alive. They are a source of power, keeping us from fearing death.
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Casts & Crews
DENG Wei
Director
