QINGTHE NEWSPAPER MAN

Yi Sicheng
China 2000 | 35 Min. | DV Pal, OmeU

Yi Sicheng’s film doc­u­ments a day in the life of Qing Baohua. The film starts in the morn­ing when Qing begins his day as a news­pa­per-seller, which in China is regard­ed as a very low pro­fes­sion with­out any social pres­tige what­so­ev­er. Con­ver­sa­tions with his lover, who accom­pa­nies him on his way through Kun­ming inform us about his social and per­son­al sit­u­a­tion. In the evening, Qing Baohua’s per­son­al­i­ty is slowly trans­formed. As soon as he per­forms local folk­songs on a stage and does some acting in Kun­ming operas, he changes into anoth­er person. The film is a visual depic­tion of the cur­rent prob­lems the urban pop­u­la­tion in China is facing. It also deals with the issue of folk cul­ture versus high (Con­fu­cian) culture.