Qian Tang River

Director and Producer | Dual Assurance of Epic Narrative

Wan Bo: Making his big-screen debut as a writer and director, he structures the film around "tidal cycles," blending documentary realism with poetic imagery to depict the symbiotic relationship between land and people.
Xu Xiaoming: As the producer and the dean of the Film Academy at China Academy of Art, he emphasizes that "Qian Tang River" deconstructs grand themes through "real mountains, real water, and real emotions," sharing the struggles of generations through cinema.

Core Plot | A Symphony of Fate for the Sandy People

Young Jiang Pingyuan (played by Wang Zheng) attempts to end his despair by jumping into the river but is swept to Taoyuan Village by the tide, where he meets:
Old Jin (Chen Yuning): The village's soul, dedicated to building dikes and physically battling the waves.
Uncle Fu (Liu Lu): A stubborn elder symbolizing the conflict between tradition and change.
Little Sister (Wang Yidi): A younger generation longing for the outside world but bound by responsibility to stay home.
After experiencing the despair of repeatedly building and destroying dikes, a powerful typhoon becomes a turning point in their fate. After the storm, Jiang Pingyuan witnesses the legendary "Tidal Tree," a metaphor for life's resilience and rebirth.

History and Aesthetics | The Dual Metaphor of the Qiantang River

Natural Writing: The Qiantang River, known as "Rakshasa River," contrasts the destructive nature of tides with the sandy people's determination to "claim land from the sea," presenting a survival paradox.
Visual Symbols: The fractal structure of the "Tidal Tree" symbolizes the rebirth of civilization from ruins.
Gray-Blue Tones and Muddy Textures: These enhance the oppressive feeling of disaster and the insignificance of individuals.

Production Highlights | Authentic Recreation of Historical Settings

Location Scouting: Filmed on-site at the Xiaoshan reclamation site, recreating sandy villages and dikes from the 1950s to 1970s.
Historical Research: Based on local chronicles and oral histories, the film restores the original methods of "manual earth-moving for dike building."
Art Direction: The late director Wan Ma Caidan contributed to the artistic guidance, imbuing the film with a poetic aesthetic.

Film Festivals and Expectations | Aesthetic Breakthrough in Chinese Disaster Films

The film has been selected for the "New Waves in Chinese Cinema" section of the 2024 Shanghai International Film Festival. The trailer's long take of "human dikes confronting the waves" has been praised by netizens as a "new height in the aesthetics of Chinese disaster films." Critics have noted: "The film reflects macro history through micro human experiences, akin to a wetland version of 'Yellow Earth.'"

"Qian Tang River" redefines the depth of disaster films with the philosophy that "each grain of sand represents a world." Witness how grains come together to form land on March 11!