China Inside Out

Chinese Documentaries for Broadcast on PBS World Channel

Living Earth Television is preparing English versions of four outstanding documentaries about China, made by Chinese filmmakers, for broadcast on the PBS World Channel. The first broadcast, of One Child, was in May of 2017. The other three films for the first season will be scheduled later this year.  Below are descriptions of the four films in our initial series, China Inside Out.

A Bite of China

A Bite of China: North, South, Wheat, Rice is a stunningly beautiful overview of the cultivation and preparation of rice- and wheat-based foods all over China, and the family and festive settings where they are shared. This is an episode from China Central TV’s series that is enormously popular in China. 

Horsemen

Horsemen follows a three-generation Muslim family in Sichuan Province as they struggle to make a living with the horseback treks for tourists through the wild and glorious mountains of the province. The film offers a unique glimpse into labor relations in a rapidly changing economy, and is set against a backdrop of the celebration of the major Muslim holiday Ramadan, a rare window into a Chinese Muslim community.

Kindergarten

Kindergarten is an intimate and endearing view by one of China’s most beloved filmmakers, shot from the children’s eye level, into a year at a boarding preschool.  Common in China since the 1960s, schools like this one serve families with children from two to seven years old. Parents drop their children off on Monday morning and pick them up Friday evening. None of the children have siblings, and all are learning to play and work together in preparation for school.