Observing Foshan

Shot over 14 months, this film records the everyday lives of children at a boarding kindergarten in Wuhan, Hubei Province. It shows how they experience an education overburdened with social and historical background. It catches their moments of laughter and happiness, their struggles against setbacks that they do not always understand, their thoughts about issues that arise both in their own and in the adult world. It is a film that makes everyone laugh, but the naivety of the children is always shown from their own perspective. Deep insights are embedded in the seemingly light-hearted scenes and not only about childhood. For the film is also a metaphor for the adult world. As the opening line of the film says: "They are our children, but maybe they are us ourselves."

The Documentary record the life of a panda, Ying, and his Trainer, Bai, in their small residential room inside China Wuhan Acrobatic Troupe. They both share a life behind bars where the outside world is out of reach and only accessible through a television.

Zhou Zhou, who lives in Wuhan, Hubei, is a boy with down syndrome. His father was a musician with the Wuhan Symphony Orchestra, and the special environment gave him an incredible outlet: Whenever music is played, Zhou Zhou conducts along with the rhythm. This film won the 10th China TV Golden Eagle Award, the 1998 China TV Documentary Academic Award and the Best Director Award, and the National "Striving for Civilization and Progress" TV award.

Documentary short film by Zhang Yiqing.