From acclaimed director Wang Xiaoshuai (Beijing Bicycle; So Long, My Son) comes a personal snapshot of contemporary China in all its diversity. Shot over the course of ten years on both film and video, the film consists of a series of carefully composed tableaus of people and environments. Pedestrians shuffle across a bustling Beijing street, steelworkers linger outside a deserted factory, tourists laugh and scamper across a crowded beach, worshippers kneel to pray in a remote village. With a painterly eye for composition, Wang captures China as he sees it, calling to a temporary halt a land in a constant state of change.
“More than just chronicling a country in transformation, Chinese Portrait signals seismic shifts in cinema as well.” (The Hollywood Reporter) “Chinese Portrait is a stunning work of photography and a simple work of empathy that asks, ‘How much goes into making sure we all get to just live?’” (RogerEbert.com)
