A Long Way Home · 2018

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Documentary

A Long Way Home

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Luc Schaedler | go between films
CH 2018 | 73 | DE, EN, FR, Chin
→ Video On Demand

The documentary « A Long Way Home» centers around five of the most significant representatives of contemporary Chinese counterculture: the visual artists the Gao Brothers, the choreographer and dancer Wen Hui, the animation artist Pi San and the poet Ye Fu.

With bravery and subversive wit, they each shed light on the social problems in their country from their unique perspective. What they share is a struggle to come to terms with their respective pasts, all scarred by violence and oppression. Their vision is of a democratic, supportive and humane civil society.

A Long Way Home takes us on a fascinating journey into both the grim days of recent Chinese history and the dazzling cultural scene in present-day China. In doing so, the film poses universal questions that ultimately concern us all: which values determine our cultural identity and in what kind of world do we want to live? A Long Way Home is an entertaining and moving plea for human solidarity.

«The beginning of my engagement with China is now more than 25 years ago. Since the brutal suppression of the democracy movement in 1989, I have repeatedly travelled through China. I have followed China’s economic development and the associated political and social upheaval with both amazement and irritation: What do external events, ruptures and changes trigger in people’s lives, and what does this mean for them in their everyday lives?»
Luc Schaedler

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→ INTERVIEW with Luc Schaedler (04:30)
→ Statement director (alwh)
→ The protagonists (alwh)
→ Background (alwh)
→ Downloads (alwh)
(Photos & Presskit)

→ «A Long Way Home» & Visual Anthropology

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Video On Demand

A Long Way Home · 2018
de, en, fr, chin

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→ Available in Switzerland

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For international sales
of «A Long Way Home» → click here:

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FESTIVALS

– Solothurner Filmtage (Switzerland)
Nomination Prix de Soleure
Nomination for Swiss Film Award
– Montréal, Festival des films du monde (Canada)
– Dharamshala Intl. Filmfestival (India)
– Cracking the Frame (The Netherlands)
– International Filmfestival Innsbruck (Austria)
– Fünf Seen Filmfestival, Starnberg (Germany)
– EPOS Intl. Art Filmfestival (2020), Tel Aviv (Israel)

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LINKS to «A Long Way Home»

→ Nomination Swiss Film Award
→ Swiss Films 
→ IMDb.com 
→ Facebook – 
→ The Movie Database

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PLAYLIST (10 Clips):

Gao Brothers, Wen Hui, Pi San, Ye Fu, original Kuang Kuang Clip etc.

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Luc Schaedler with the Gao Brothers in Beijing 2015

Feb 10, 2019 | films | Comments Off on A Long Way Home · 2018

Video On Demand

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Streaming

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→ Link to the Video On Demand Website where the documentaries and videos of «go between films» can be bought or rented in different language versions.

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· A Long Way Home (2018)
→ Available in Switzerland

Rent from USD 5 | CHF 5 | € 4.50
Buy from USD 12 | CHF 12 | € 11
→ Credit Card or PayPal

A Long Way Home (2018)
en, de, fr

→ click here (Switzerland)  

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→ For international sales
of «A Long Way Home»:

→ click here

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VIMEO ON DEMAND

Available worldwide 

Watermarks (2013)
en, de, fr

→ click here  

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Angry Monk (2005)
en, de, fr

→ click here  

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Made in Hong Kong (1997)
en, de, fr

→ click here 

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→ click here 

The documentaries of «go between films» (Luc Schaedler) can also be bought as DVD in different language versions.

Each DVD: USD 25 + USD 5 (shipping)
Total: USD 30 | CHF 30 | € 25
• Credit Card or PayPal needed

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Mar 15, 2018 | streaming+dvd | Comments Off on Video On Demand

DVD – Selection

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A selection of documentaries and videos of «go between films» can be bought in different language versions for all territories.

Each DVD:

USD 25.00 + USD 5.00 (shipping)
Total: USD 30.00 | CHF 30.00)

Buy DVD with Credit Card or PayPal

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A Long Way Home (2018)

→ Switzerland (de,fr,en,chin)

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→ International Sales of «A Long Way Home»

→ Hier klicken

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Available worldwide

Watermarks (2013)

→ de,en,fr,chin | 60 mins. bonus

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Angry Monk (2005)

→ de,en,fr,chin,tib | 60 mins. bonus

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Made in Hong Kong (1997)

→ de, fr, en
→ Specify desired language

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Video On Demand

Link to the Vimeo On Demand Page of «go between films» where the documentaries and videos can be bought and rented in different language versions.

Rent:
USD 5.00 | CHF 5.00

Buy:
USD 12.00 | CHF 12.00

With Credit Card or PayPal

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Mar 13, 2018 | streaming+dvd | Comments Off on DVD – Selection

A LONG WAY HOME – materials

Additional documents

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In the section «A Long Way Home – materials» you will find additional information about this documentary of Luc Schaedler.

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→ Buy/rent on Vimeo On Demand

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→ Statement Director

→ Protagonists

→ Background

→ Downloads

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The documentary « A Long Way Home» centers around five of the most significant representatives of contemporary Chinese counterculture: the visual artists the Gao Brothers, the choreographer and dancer Wen Hui, the animation artist Pi San and the poet Ye Fu.

With bravery and subversive wit, they each shed light on the social problems in their country from their unique perspective. What they share is a struggle to come to terms with their respective pasts, all scarred by violence and oppression. Their vision is of a democratic, supportive and humane civil society.

A Long Way Home takes us on a fascinating journey into both the grim days of recent Chinese history and the dazzling cultural scene in present-day China. In doing so, the film poses universal questions that ultimately concern us all: which values determine our cultural identity and in what kind of world do we want to live? A Long Way Home is an entertaining and moving plea for human solidarity.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

   —  

→ home
→ films
→ contact

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

→ Data Protection Statement

Oct 24, 2016 | materials | Comments Off on A LONG WAY HOME – materials

· Statement Director – alwh

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A Long Way Home

Statement Director –
Luc Schaedler

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«My exploration of China and Chinese culture goes back more than 25 years now. Since the brutal suppression of the Democracy Movement in 1989, I’ve traveled through China several times. I have followed its economic development and subsequent political and social upheaval with both amazement and bewilderment.»

«The deeper I delved into the country the more I learned about its grim history, the effects of which can still be felt in China today. Along the way one question has arisen time and time again: What do external events, ruptures and changes trigger in people, and how does it impact their daily lives?»

«China also always inspired me to think about my own world. Taking a close look at another culture can cause you to see your own in a new light. This was a view also held by French ethnologist and philosopher Claude Lévi-Strauss who felt both encounters and confrontations with a foreign culture give us an opportunity, or stronger yet, a responsibility to look at and question one’s own society.»

«In «A Long Way Home»  I ask myself from the perspective of a Swiss filmmaker, where the protagonists find the courage to expose themselves. How would I behave in their situation? How are we each shaped by our past? And finally: How is it possible that the essence of many of the existential problems they are confronted with seem surprisingly familiar to me, despite our vast cultural differences?» Statement director – Luc Schaedler

Interview with Luc Schaedler in Dharamshala, India

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© go between films – Luc Schaedler filming the Gao Brothers in their home in Beijing, 2016

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Filmtalk with Luc Schaedler in «Landbote» (by Irene Genhart)

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Oct 24, 2016 | materials | Comments Off on · Statement Director – alwh

· Protagonists – alwh

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A Long Way Home

Protagonists

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In A Long Way Home (alwh), the connecting element and main theme of the artistic works of  the protagonists Wen Hui, Pi San, Ye Fu and the Gao Brothers is a demand for the reconstruction of humanity throughout Chinese society. Looking back at their personal family histories, and thus recent Chinese history, takes on greater significance within the backdrop of their unease toward present-day Chinese society. Actively remembering is an important part of their work as they try to fathom the roots of present-day problems. Like researchers, they explore the possibilities of collective healing in their work. Luc Schaedler

WEN HUI – choreographer | dancer

In China, Wen Hui is considered the mother of modern dance. For years she has explored the topic of memory. In her current piece «Red», based on the propagandist ballet of the same name from the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), she processes the physical impact of this traumatic era.

PI SAN – animation artist

Pi San is known to millions in China for his subversive animated film series, which have caused a sensation on the Internet. Through his mischievous cartoon character «Kuang Kuang» he exposes the injustices and absurdities of everyday life in China. In doing so he must constantly gauge how far he can go with his criticism.

YE FU – writer | poet

The former police officer, who resigned in 1989 in protest against the suppression of the Democracy Movement, has made a name for himself in recent years with his autobiographical essays and blog articles which loudly demand political change.

GAO BROTHERS – visual artists | painters

Gao Zhen and Gao Qiang, known internationally as the Gao Brothers, have been around since the birth of the modern Chinese art scene in 1985. They belong to the group of critical avant-garde artists whose work reflects the complexity of recent Chinese history and the «human condition» in a globalised world.

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Aug 24, 2016 | materials | Comments Off on · Protagonists – alwh

· Background – alwh

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A Long Way Home

Historical Background

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The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting.
Milan Kundera

The Heart of Darkness

The historical background of A Long Way Home is made up of two defining phases in recent Chinese history: the Democracy Movement of 1989 and the Cultural Revolution of 1966-1976. Beginning with present-day China, «A Long Way Home» moves deeper into the «heart of darkness» of Chinese history. The focus is on how people handle historical and biographical ruptures and how they process traumatic experiences.

Cultural Revolution

During the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), systematic violence was employed to eliminate everything private and to destroy social relationships. Mao Zedong and the Party relied on betrayal, public humiliation, self-incrimination, and re-education in everyday life. Mistrust and deep insecurity continue to shape relationships among people in China today.

Top Party officials are denounced during rally in Red Guard Square, Harbin 1966

Tiananmen, 1989

In the film, the Democracy Movement of 1989 stands in direct opposition to the Cultural Revolution. What began as a student protest in Beijing soon grew into a sweeping movement uniting people of diverse social backgrounds. The first spontaneous mass movement outside party structures, it showed initial signs of a possible civil society that would not be able to germinate until after Mao’s death.

© Gao Brothers, Beijing: The Tankman, 1989 

Outlook

The violent suppression by the People’s Army was a clear sign from the regime that the protest was not welcome and that public criticism of the Party would not be tolerated – a condition that continues to this day.

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Jan 31, 2016 | materials | Comments Off on · Background – alwh

· Downloads – alwh

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A Long Way Home

Downloads – Promotion

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The press kit in three languages (de, en, fr) and the film stills from «A Long Way Home» can be downloaded here.

↓ Presskit (english)
↓ Dossier de presse (français)
↓ Presseheft (deutsch)

↓ Filmstills

→ Click on image
→ Image opens in browser
→ Choose «Save as»
→ Select downloads location
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Gao Brothers – artists

Pi San – animation artist

Wen Hui – dancer

Ye Fu – writer

Gao Zhen – cooks

Gao Zhen – Interview

Gao Zhen

Gao Brothers – Hitler

Pi San – models

Wen Hui

Wen Hui – screen

Wen Hui – Interview

Ye Fu – lakeside

Ye Fu – Interview

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↓ ARTIKEL: Ethik im Dokumentarfilm (deutsch)
Kaleo La Belle (Fell in Love with a Girl) und Luc Schaedler (A Long Way Home) discuss the question of ethics and responsability in documentary filmmaking with Till Brockmann.

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Jan 06, 2016 | materials | Comments Off on · Downloads – alwh