Villagers in central China confront a chemical company that is poisoning their land and water in this rare portrait of grassroots activism in contemporary China. When his own fields could no longer be farmed, Zhang Gongli filed a lawsuit against the polluting factory. After he lost, he initiated a stubborn, and often dangerous, campaign for justice. The Warriors of Qiugang follows Zhang and his allies in the village as they petition Beijing, recruit support from the local media, reach out for help from a local NGO and make contact with environmental activists from across China. The film’s intimacy leads us past the headlines and clichés about modern China to offer a memorable portrait of villagers wrestling with, and transformed by, China’s headlong rush into modernity. In Chinese with English subtitles. Directed by Ruby Yang. Produced by Thomas Lennon. 2011 Academy Award Nominee, Documentary Short Film.

The Warriors of Qiugang

2010 CN 39 min
Festival Year: 2012
Types: Documentary
Topic: Climate Change, Energy & Resources, Environmental Advocacy and Justice, Global Perspectives, Sustainable Living