DODO

Donderdag Documentaire
THU 7 APR
19.30 hrs
Entrance: €5,- (Students €4,-)
 
 
Rainmakers
China's warriors for the environment
By Floris-Jan van Luyn,  75 min, 2010, NL
 
Documentairy + Q&A with Floris-Jan van Luyn
 
Rainmakers is an investigative documentary about the decline of China's environment. The story is told from the perspective of four civil activists who refuse to accept the ongoing ecological destruction of their homeland. Treading the border between outright heroism and stalwart stubbornness, four remarkable Chinese civilians explain why they have the courage to fight the local authorities, despite the odds. The film constructs its visual framework around the four elements of nature. The polluted air of Changsha, the filthy water of the Qiantang river, the advancing sand of the Tengger desert, and the suffocating fire of an incinerator in Beijing, serve as symbols for an environmental battle that counts very few winners - and myriad losers.
 
Green Award, Sheffield International Documentary Festival 2010
Best Documentary & WWF Award for Biodiversity, International Rome Film Festival 2010
 
Floris-Jan van Luyn (1967) studied History and Chinese in Leiden, Peking and Taipei. He is an independent filmmaker, as well as writer and journalist (foreign affairs columnist NRC Next). Rainmakers is his third film. His debut, Cyber Coolies (2006), tells the story of landless Chinese peasants who earn a living as internet gamers. He is the author of A Floating City of Peasants (The New Press, 2008) and co-writer of China and the Dutch (Walburg Pers 2008).
 
DODO is our monthly documentary film programme. Every first Thursday of each month we screen films that have a strong auteur's vision, that are experimental and innovative, or express strong social and/or political issues. These screenings are combined with short talks, debates or Q&A's. Reservations: info@nutshuis.nl.