Fifth Beijing Ethnographic Film Festival opens in Beijing

Photo: Courtesy of the Chinese National Museum of Ethnology

The fifth edition of the Beijing Ethnographic Film Festival launched by the Chinese National Museum of Ethnology opened at the National Library of China on Thursday, covering a wide range of topics on Chinese ethnic minority groups, including true stories about Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region.
This festival has received 667 submissions from across the nation, setting a new record for the number of entries. Among them, a total of 56 documentaries have been selected.

Flavorful Xinjiang is one of the selected Xinjiang documentaries. As the third chapter in the well-known "I Am from Xinjiang" documentary trilogy, it uses food as a means to present the stories of Xinjiang's multiculturalism, according to the production team.

It presents herdsmen's stewed mutton, Xinjiang barbecue, pilaf with Brassica rapa and raisins, fried rice noodles, wild apples and naan. Behind each dish, there is a story about the people of Xinjiang.

"I hope every viewer who watches Flavorful Xinjiang, wherever they are from, can find their own memories and past life from these stories," said Kurbanjan Samat, director and producer of the trilogy.

In addition, there's also a selected documentary focusing on the traditional Quguo Festival in Nimu County, Xizang. The festival celebrates religious rituals and folk traditions and it has been passed down through generations. During the festival, people gather at the Bon temple at dawn. Each person carries a scripture, and they walk counterclockwise around the temple before proceeding to the village.

Amidst the sounds of suona and chanting, the presiding figure performs a ritual in the central part of the threshing ground. Participants, carrying scriptures on their backs, form a circle, turning clockwise from the outside to the inside, creating a massive dragon-like circular formation. They then turn counterclockwise from the inside to the outside, unraveling the circular formation.

Documentaries featuring the customs, culture and people of other Chinese ethnic minority groups such as the Li ethnic minority group, and ancient songs from the Miao ethnic minority group are also featured.

The festival is scheduled to be held from Thursday to Sunday, and the documentaries will be screened in venues including Peking University, Tsinghua University, Minzu University of China and China's National Library.

All the shortlisted films will be permanently collected by the Chinese National Museum and the National Library.

Global Times