"Up The Yangtze" A Film by Yung Chang May 8, 2008

Presented by the San Francisco International Film Festival

On a cruise ship gliding up the Yangtze River, European and North American tourists get a relaxing firsthand view of changing China. The perspective is markedly different, however, for two Chinese teenagers working on the boat. Chen Bo (assigned the gringo-friendly name Jerry) is a good-looking, supremely self-confident urban dude with a quick appreciation for the newly introduced practice of tipping. Downstairs in the galley, meanwhile, the shy country girl Yu Shui (aka Cindy) grapples with the demeaning drudgery of dirty dishes. Yu Shui would much rather be in school, but it’s not in the cards. The imminent completion of the massive Three Gorges Dam, one of the biggest and most controversial engineering projects in human history, will submerge the meager plot of land on which her dirt-poor family ekes out its existence. Not only is there no money for her schooling, her parents will need a chunk of her check to get by. The dam is a source of pride for many Chinese—even a shop owner in a village destined to disappear beneath the water refers to “sacrificing the little family for the big family.” But reality trumps philosophy: voice cracking, the same man laments, “China is too hard for common people.” Chinese-Canadian filmmaker Yung Chang displays a lyrical eye for landscape and detail that doesn’t shy from hard truths. His haunting film leaves us mourning what is lost and wondering what is gained. Alas, progress is like a ship steaming up a river: There is no way but forward.

—Michael Fox

This film is competing for a Golden Gate Award. Sponsored by San Simeon Films, the Quebec Government Office and the Goldman Environmental Prize.

Official Website: http://fest08.sffs.org/films/film_details.php?id=93