In the wake of China's open-door policy in the early 1980's, Fujian was one of the first Chinese coastal provinces to be opened to the outside world. Fujian Blues tells the stories of how the the younger generation survive in this changing society. Indie film forum presents Fujian Blues followed by a talk with executive producer Zhang Xianmin.

Fujian Blue
2007.China.Weng Shouming. 90 min. Chinese subtitles
Dragons and Tigers Award at Vancouver International Film Festival (2007)
In the wake of China's open-door policy in the early 1980's, Fujian was one of the first Chinese coastal provinces to be opened to the outside world. Many of the male residents opted to go abroad for work, leaving behind their wives and families. Two decades later, Fujian is a microcosm of Chinese modernity: there are palatial suburbs populated by lonely "remittance widows"; neon-lit discotheques frequented by karaoke kids; coastal villages inhabited by impoverished fishermen and city centers dominated by gangs, snakeheads and language schools acting as fronts for organized human trafficking.

The Neon Knights, Amerika, Roppongi and their friends, so nicknamed because of the places their emigrė fathers live-use their imported digital video-cameras to film wealthy remittance widows in trysts with their local lovers. They then proceed to blackmail the women, and use the proceeds to finance a night-life of drink, drugs, girls and karaoke. Amerika is the mastermind of the scheme, Roppongi (a.k.a. "The Playa") is the seducer and Dragon and the others act as bag-men. But when Amerika discovers that his own mother has taken a lover and decides to blackmail her, the gang is forced to take a stand...

Dragon, a young man from a poor fishing village, is an exception to the rule. He participates in the blackmail in hopes of earning some money to help pay off his brother's emigration debt, send his younger sister to private school and provide his parents with a better life. After he runs into some trouble and decides to hide out in his hometown, the gang entrusts him with a precious cargo. The fate of this mysterious cargo may well determine Dragon's future...

Traditionally, the Fujianese have placed an emphasis on ties of family and clan, kinship and friendship. More recently, Fujian Province has been the nexus of a modern Chinese diaspora: her emigrants have sought better fortunes overseas, and many have not returned. This overseas emigration has been balanced by an internal migration, as Chinese from inland provinces relocate to Fujian for study or work. It is a cycle of emigration, immigration and deportation that enriches and impoverishes by turns.

The film portrays the decadence and self-destruction of a certain segment of Fujianese youth, a trend mirrored and emulated by their elders. But when the dream has ended, when the neon nights are over: What have we become on waking? And what does the hangover tell us about ourselves?

Fujian Blue is an independent film by independent minds about independent lives. Its characters and creations are tragic but tranquil, absurd and yet hopeful; they are damaged, but not beyond redemption, cynical yet sincere. By land and by water, by home and by sea, Fujian Blue is a portrait of life in contemporary China, PRC.

Zhang Xianmin
Professor at Beijing Film Academy since 1987
1985, graduated from Beijing Foreign Languages University, China
1987, graduated from Paris Sorbonne III, France
1992, graduated from FEMIS, France

Moderator: Xie Meng (Art Cinema Programmer)

Partner: Indie Workshop