Full coverage: ‘看中國’外國青年影像計劃專題

By CCTV.com Panview

Editor's foreword: "Looking China" International Youth Film Project is co-organized by the Academy for International Communication of Chinese Culture (AICCC), Beijing Normal University and Huilin Foundation. The program focuses on the young participants’ personal experiences of Chinese culture and encourages them to discover and tell Chinese stories from their own perspectives.

As of the year 2017, students from all over the world were invited to participate in the project. They were stationed in 12 municipality, provinces and autonomous regions here in China. Every filmmaker has worked out a 10-minute short film about Chinese culture around the topic of "Craftsmanship·Inheritance·Innovation.”

The short film, Survival Hands, directed by Joao Mestre and produced by Ruiyan Liu and Xuan Liu, depicts a poignant tale of blacksmiths in Yunnan Province, who craft intricate engravings and ceramics from black copper.

The older men engaged in the craft have expressed fears that today’s Chinese youth have lost interest in it and the craft could disappear in a few years time.

Nevertheless, a middle-aged man, who is a master in the art form, is teaching his adolescent son to follow in his footsteps. The young man said at first that he was reluctant to work with his father but later on he has committed himself to the craft.

Additionally, the master black copper craftsman has inspired other young villagers to learn from him as well, which sets the stage for long-term survival of the ancient craft.

(The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Panview or CCTV.com. )

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