Country: China
Year: 2024
Duration: 52'
Zhenping is a shepherd in the grasslands of Inner Mongolia. He has never married in his life, and now facing old age, he can only live with his mother Jinzhi. Their life is poor but peaceful. One summer, Zhenping’s brother Guoping comes home from Beijing to visit his family and introduces him to a date. Between love and a better life on the one hand, and staying in the village, caring for his aging mother, and renovating the graves of his deceased brothers on the other, Zhenping is faced with a choice of his life.
Biography
film director
Yufei Zhao
(China) started film production studies at Beijing Film Academy in 2018. Began the MA in Film Directing program at the University of Edinburgh in 2023. During his career, he directed the experimental short film The Scene (2019), the documentary short Wind Is Heavy in Chicago (2020), the fiction short Room Without Mirror (2021), and the documentary medium-length film The Shepherd (2024).
FILMOGRAFIA
The Scene (cm, 2019), Wind Is Heavy in Chicago (cm, 2020), Room Without Mirror (cm, 2021), The Shepherd (mm, 2024).
Declaration
film director
“During the filming of The Shepherd, Zhenping displayed an exceptionally positive attitude amidst what I perceived as a life of hardship. He loved his hometown, sacrificed for his family, and took joy in doing so. In what I saw as a world of suffering, he maintained optimism and dedication. His energy made me rethink the true value of documentary filmmaking. As a filmmaker, should I have used Zhenping’s life to construct a fabricated story of misery based on my preconceptions? Or should I have respected his personality and life choices, and authentically conveyed his spirit?”
Cast
& Credits
DIRECTOR, EDITING, SOUND: Yufei Zhao.. PHOTOGRAPHY: Naichen, Xiao, Yufei Zhao. MUSIC: Bao-Chaoke. PRODUCTION: Xin Xie, Jiayin Liu, Xiaokun Liang, Jing Zhang.
CONTACT: Zhao Yufei yufeizhao422@gmail.com
