The film screening is part of the USF-funded Seminar Series Award “Mapping opportunities for healthy and sustainable urban transitions in post-industrial cities” lead by Dr Joseph Hongsheng Zhao (Division of Engineering, University of the West of Scotland, Scotland), Dr Aviral Marwal (Department of Humanities and Social Science, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, India), and Dr Qiumeng Li (Urban Governance and Design, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Guangzhou, China)
Synopsis
There was once an unusual town in Hunan, China. In the 1980s, when many rural areas across the country had scarcely encountered a private automobile, this town already maintained its own fleet of vehicles. It was considered “fashionable”: its cinema screened new releases almost as soon as they appeared, and despite its remote, mountainous setting, young people dressed with striking modernity.
The town was called Meitian. In the early 1990s, however, most of its inhabitants seemed to vanish almost overnight, leaving behind little explanation of where they had gone. Nostalgia traces the story of this southern Chinese town and explores the complexities of urban development, migration, and collective memory in contemporary China.
Through intimate interviews and archival footage, the film captures the nostalgic longing of former residents and reflects on what prosperity means in the context of rapid industrialisation.
Directed by LI Jie
Li Jie is a university lecturer and a documentary director. Her feature-length documentary Nostalgia received the 2021 Annual Work Award at the 18th Beijing International College Student Film and Video Festival. It was also selected for several renowned film festivals, including the Beijing College Student Film Festival, the Chinese Young Generation Film Forum, CCDF-8, Fresh-Pitch, and the South Europe International Film Festival. Nostalgia has been invited for academic screenings multiple times in London and Cambridge.
Her narrative short film Survivor won Best Narrative Film at the Chongqing Film Festival and was shortlisted for the Beijing College Student Film Festival and the Shanghai International College Student TV Festival.