The Folk-singer in The Chatgroup

This short documentary follows a lonely folk singer from the Zhuang community in southwest China, one of the founders of an online folksong chat group. Once, Zhuang singers travelled across the borders to gather at the seasonal fw, a place and occasion for antiphonal folk singing. But as rural communities have emptied with many old singers passing away and young generation have migrated to cities for work, the fw has gradually fallen silent. In recent years, a virtual gathering has emerged. Through social media, scattered singers reunite in a digital folksong chat group, singing. As tradition adapts to a cyber new world, the film asks: can these online encounters become a new lifeline for the survival of Zhuang folk songs?