A new film by Guangxi-born director Yang Xiao bends an ear to the region’s dying tradition of ethnic folk ballads
For many Chinese people, the thought of folk songs from Guangxi evokes the legend of Liu Sanjie, a peasant girl of the Zhuang ethnic group, standing in a fishing boat and singing melodiously toward the southwestern region’s green hills.
The image persists today thanks largely to the efforts of the local tourism industry, which has sponsored everything from a popular 1960 film about Liu to a show staged every night by the picturesque Li River. But it’s exactly that stereotype that director Yang Xiao is rebelling against in his new short film, The Mountains Sing.
Yang, a native of the mountainous city of Guilin, previously directed the internationally screened shorts Chronicle of a Durian (2017) and Dancing Together (2015), while also racking up assistant director credits on award-winning productions like Bi Gan’s Kaili Blues. His latest work, a 40-minute documentary, received a special mention at this year’s FIRST International Film Festival in Xining.
The Mountains Sing chronicles the endangered singing traditions in remote Zhuang villages, where groups of men and women gather to sing improvised lyrics in dialogue with one another. Perhaps this makes them all the more valuable, an oasis of constancy amid a sea of change, real estate development, and poverty alleviation programs slowly encroaching upon their homeland.
Yang spoke to TWOC via the messaging app WeChat about his initiation into cinema and the inspiration behind his work. The interview has been edited for brevity.
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The Mountains Sing: Yang Xiao on Documenting Guangxi’s Fading Folk Music is a story from our issue, “Upstaged.” To read the entire issue, become a subscriber and receive the full magazine.
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