Documentary 1: Guangzhou “LIANYI TENGFEI” Rattan Factory
Inheritance and development of the traditional rattan industry: a story about the Guangzhou “LIANYI TENGFEI” rattan factory
Due to its geographical location in the subtropical climate zone, the city of Guangzhou in southern China has always had an advantage in the market, design and production of rattan weaving. However, because of the labor intensive requirements of the rattan craft production process, new crafts and materials were being used for furniture production and rattan craft products were facing decline.
This documentary explores the challenges that faced this traditional folk craft industry in the process of globalization; and records the survival of this factory through its efforts to develop its products while maintaining traditional production methods.
This film presents the production process of rattan craft products to the audience and allows the audience to get closer to and understand the truth of the hardships for workers when they produce the products manually. According to the manager in charge of the factory, there are still many technical shortcomings existing in Chinese manufacturing plants for rattan products, such as pattern design and heating modeling, which still rely on manual operations. He also pointed out that such manual methods affect production efficiency.
（Running time: 5~7 minutes; My creative role: Director, Screen Writer, Journalist, Researcher, Editor & Interviewer）
Documentary 1 Still Pictures: Inheritance and Development of Traditional Rattan Craft Industry
Documentary 2: Traditional Chinese Puppet Show
Puppet Play Craft and Industry
Under the impact of modern entertainment productions and the emergence of new media, traditional Chinese puppet shows have become a "sunset industry,” which means it is in decline.
Guangzhou Puppet Art Center integrates its functions as a puppet museum and a puppet show theater. It is also an organization that persists in making and designing handmade puppets despite the challenges of new media. According to the manager of the center, the biggest challenge for traditional Chinese puppet shows is digital 3D animation. Unlike 3D cartoon shows, traditional puppet shows are restricted by physical location of performance; and the process of hand-making puppets is relatively longer than building 3D models by computer. The weak points of these traditional puppet shows led to its decline.
This documentary mainly records the story of teaching and passing on the skills of puppet making between an old handmade puppet artist and his young apprentice. The old artist says that although the economic income of the Puppet Art Center has been declining year by year, he has strong hopes to pass his skills to the younger generation. When he talks about each puppet character he makes, it is like talking about his children. The excitement on his face makes it seem that he has completely forgotten that the puppet center is facing the danger of closing. The young apprentice also talked about his own life and survival dilemma: the puppet industry is declining, but he still hopes to pass on the master's craftsmanship, so he had to do three different jobs at the same time to balance the issues between his survival and responsibilities, and his passion for the puppet tradition.
（Running time: 5~7 minutes; My creative role: Director, Screen Writer, Journalist, Researcher, Editor & Interviewer）
Documentary 2 Still Pictures: Puppet Play Craft and Industry
