10 episode | Length: 25 minutes | Format: 4K
Genre: Society, Human interest, history, travel
Production company: MYproductions (China) | ErreEffe (Italy)
Director: Leonardo Cinieri Lombroso
Status: in post-production with the first episode “Guanfu Village | The Tai Chi Village”.
Looking for: Broadcast, PayTv, Sales Agent, Distributor.
Logline
China Towns is a docu-series that explores a China that you wouldn’t expect. Ten episodes to explore lives, marvelous landscapes, peculiar traditions and cultures in a fascinating blend of past and present.
Synopsis
Despite the millennial history and the gigantic territory, corresponding to about Europe, in the stereotyped popular imagination China is a synonymous with hectic industries and polluted metropolises.
The docu-series China Towns wants to give a wider knowledge of China, turning its gaze towards little and unknown realities that are indeed very significant: the villages.
The chengzhenhua, the governmental urban model, is promoting the autonomy of rural villages and encouraging the enhancement of local communities and their cultures, helping native traditions to thrive, perfectly integrated into today’s Chinese life. This phenomenon transformed Chinese Towns and its inhabitants into custodians of a unique secular spiritual and social heritage.
In 10 episodes of 25 minutes each, China Towns will explore ten little-known villages, each symbolizing the traditions and architecture of the different provinces and of the ethnic minorities that inhabit them.
The art of porcelain in Jingdezhen, the tradition of tea in Pu’er and the discipline of Taiji in Guanfu are among the themes that will allow us to narrate and explore fascinating and unknown realities, whose protagonists are the local people: blacksmiths, artisans, artists and monks will talk about the identity of yesterday and today of these remote places and will offer us a unique experience through the observation of their works and lives.
Trailer :https://vimeo.com/360278992
Please ask for the password: leonardo@cinierilombroso.com
Director’s notes
The director Leonardo Cinieri Lombroso has extensive experience in the Asian world, gained on the spot through works such as Through Korean Cinema (2010), Southeast Asian Cinema (2014), and Doris & Hong (2015).
The collaboration with the Italian production Erre Effe, directed by Fabio Massimo Fabretti, and the Beijing production MY Productions, directed by Jess Zhao, is crucial to operate in China and face geographical, cultural, and linguistic complexity.
Jess Zhao has a long of experience as producer in important channels such as CCTV, the Chinese national television.
Italian Co-producer Edoardo Gagliardi has worked in China for over a decade in audiovisual and film production.
In this historical moment, international relations with China have thickened, thanks to the recently revived Silk Road. It is more than ever necessary to fully understand this important partner both from a commercial and social point of view.
The series China Tows turns a spotlight on an economic and cultural giant of our time, discovering its peculiar social and cultural dynamics.
