The Deeper Layer

One of the things that struck me about attending the latest incarnation of the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), was learning about the IDFA Fund.  Going another layer deeper in helping nonfiction filmmakers out financially, the IDFA Fund was established to provide grants to the subjects of the documentaries screened at the festival.  Filmmakers can apply for these grants of one-time donations that can go to individuals, families, villages and neighborhoods whose journeys and struggles we all watch as spectators, sometimes forgetting that the stories don’t end when the credits roll and that, more times than not, there is no happily-ever-after resolution.

I got to spend some time with the talented young Chinese-Canadian filmmaker, Yung Chang, director of the Joris Ivens Award-nominated (and, currently, Sundance-bound), feature doc Up the Yangtze.  His film created much buzz at IDFA for its beautiful cinematography and its deep emotionalism in telling the story of Yu Shui and her struggling family against the backdrop of the grandeur of cruise ships sailing down the big Chinese river that brings so much commerce and wealth to the lucky few savvy enough to take advantage of the tourism that is pervading the Three Gorges Dam.  It's a  small personal story writ large and its unabashed cinematic grandeur speaks to the kinds of emerging young voices directing today's most impactful nonfiction filmmaking.  Here's a link to the trailer. 

Chang had this to say about the importance of the Amsterdam fest, the launching point for the carefully-crafted festival strategy of his debut feature:  “I love the bombast in which the festival showcases documentary films—lifting them up on a pedestal.  I really admire the audiences and their responses to the films, the buzz that makes people want to watch and weigh in. . . . It’s important to treat docs as movies, as cinema.  I didn’t know how vital IDFA was until I was informed it was the most important fest in the world for docs, that it is the event for docs in Europe.”

Like most independent filmmakers, he's taken it upon himself to try and help the subjects of his film.  Fresh off the headiness of his debut at IDFA, he's making the most of his US debut at Sundance in this letter he sent on behalf of the Yu family, and the fund he 's helped start for the subjects of his film.  Here it is in its entirety:

It's taken a few months, but finally, the fund for the Yu family is up-and-running.

As the holidays are just around the corner, I hope that you will take a moment to consider contributing to the Yu family, migrants of the Three Gorges Dam, who are sharing their lives with audiences around the world in my film "Up the Yangtze."

I spent about a year with Cindy Yu Shui; Yang Zhibi, her mother; Yu Ting Jun, her father; Zhang Ying and Yu Deng Feng, her two siblings. During that time, I witnessed many emotional moments, and none was more earth-shattering than when Yu Shui's father and mother had to carry their furniture up the embankment to escape the rising waters. I wanted to put the camera down to help them move but in order to tell their story, I had to keep the camera rolling. That image has been imprinted on film forever. I have been witness to their hardships.

As my producer so eloquently wrote, "We think that documentary films are about being engaged in the world, and for this film particularly we see this as a good way to channel the hardship chronicled in the film into something positive."

The fund we have started is with GiveMeaning, a non-profit fundraising website. I would like to put the money towards the children's school tuition and supplies. Most urgently, I would like to help Yu Ting Jun get an eye operation in which his current condition makes it difficult for him to find work. I am in touch with Cindy Yu Shui via email and receive regular updates from her. She has informed me that both parents are currently unemployed. They used to be able to farm and were self-sustainable but everything has changed since their home and farmland was flooded.

We will be taking the film to the Sundance Film Festival in a few weeks,  and we hope your early example will spark the large audiences there to contribute as a result.

Please see http://www.givemeaning.com/project/yufam for more information and to make a small donation.

Best wishes,

Yung Chang,

Director of "Up the Yangtze"