Apuda

CHINA / 2010 / Naxi language / Color / Video / 145 min
Director: He Yuan

Northern Yunnan Province, China. Farmer Apuda, of the Naxi ethnic minority, lives together with his elderly and infirmed father. Amid the dim light in the darkened interior of their home, he helps him put on his clothes, light a cigarette, and get out of bed. As well as caring for his father, Apuda is kept busy tending to their fruit trees and drawing water. Occasionally one of the neighborhood elders stops by, grumbling about their own son’s lack of kindness. Observing this father and son living in a remote mountain village with a serene rhythm and rich imagery, it evokes the drama of life and death. Two of He Yuan’s previous works, Hani Textile Arts in Jinping and The Son Is Not at Home, screened as part of the Yunnan Visual Forum in Yamagata at YIDFF 2005.

• Oct. 7 A6 | Oct. 8 CL