On the evening of December 29, 2021, the 11th "Year of Light and Shadow" - China Documentary Academy Awards (CAADF) Awards Ceremony was held at the Communication University of China.
The four-episode documentary series "Above chai rice oil and salt", co-produced by Fujian Radio, Film and Television Group, won the Best Documentary Series Award of the China Documentary Academy Awards and was nominated for the Grand Jury Award; director Ke Wensi won the International Communication Contribution Award.
Founded in 2011, the "Year of Light and Shadow" - China Documentary Academy Award (CAADF) is an important academic and cultural exchange activity in the field of documentary films under the guidance of the State Administration of Radio and Television, sponsored by the Communication University of China, co-organized by the School of Television, and undertaken by the China Documentary Research Center. A total of 1,212 documentary works from more than 600 professional institutions, studios and individuals were received for this year's Academy Awards, and 220 works were successfully shortlisted through two rounds of preliminary selection, and 65 works were nominated for this year's Academy Awards after rigorous final evaluation, and 17 awards were finally awarded.
Tribute to the centenary of the founding of the Party
Focus on "all-round well-off"
2021 is the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, based on this important historical time node, Straits Satellite TV, together with the China Foreign Language Bureau and Tencent Video, invited the two-time Oscar-winning documentary director Ke Wensi to direct, and jointly produced and produced a documentary "On The Chai Rice Oil and Salt" that reflects the story of the struggle of ordinary Chinese people in this major historical background, full of "human touch" and "fireworks".
Ke Wensi can be said to be an old friend of Chinese people, who visited China in the 1980s and was deeply shocked when he set foot in China again in 2013: "This is what I have seen with my own eyes, what the West calls 'the rise of China', and in my personal opinion, it should be regarded more as China's revival." ”
Fascinated by China's long history, rich humanities and vicissitudes, he has successively filmed a number of documentaries on the theme of China in the new era. After receiving the proposition of "well-off", he did a survey, and the results of the survey once again refreshed his understanding of China: "Poverty alleviation has lifted tens of millions (98.99 million rural poor people under the current standard) Chinese get rid of poverty, this figure surprised me, such a big achievement is unimaginable to many countries, I felt very interested at the time." ”
At the award ceremony of this year's "Year of Light and Shadow", when the organizing committee presented the "International Communication Contribution Award" to director Ke Wensi, the award speech said: "He witnessed the historical development with a global vision; he is also a recorder of China's development and change, creating a series of works such as "On top of chai rice oil and salt" and "Good Angel", which are 'rooted in China and connect the world', with vivid content and profound themes, so that the world can see the real 'Chinese landscape'." ”
So, how did Ke Wensi let the "all-round well-off", China's grand landscape, be seen by the world?
Chai rice oil salt see "well-off"
Grand themes are ordinary
Covins chose to break the problem from the story of the struggle of ordinary individuals. The creative team led by him went deep into the people's masses, looked for the protagonists of the program, excavated materials from the daily life of the people, extracted themes from the people's labor creation, and drew emotions from the people's hard work and dedication. The 2-year production time finally led to 4 episodes.
As a result, we see that the protagonists of "On the Oil and Salt of Chai Rice" are ordinary people from China's low-level society: Chang Kaiyong, secretary of the village branch, Zhang Lin, a female truck driver, Wang Huaifu, an acrobat, and Deng Degeng, a private entrepreneur. Through their delicate portrayal, it arouses the audience's emotional resonance and value thinking.
For example, one of the protagonists in the film, Female Truck Driver Lin Bao, is the epitome of China's 1.26 million female truck drivers. In the pursuit of the realization of personal self-worth and the handling of family relations, the choices and abandonment, pursuits and struggles faced by Lin Bao are precisely the vivid and touching aspects of life that every ordinary Chinese in the pursuit of a better life.
The daily life, mental state, and course of struggle of these "little people" are a wave in the rushing tide of China in the new era, showing the spiritual will and style of the CPC to unite and lead the Chinese people, and to be independent, tenacious, self-reliant, and striving to make progress on the road of overcoming poverty and building a well-off society with the fearless spirit of "sacrificing more for the sake of having more ambitions and daring to teach the sun and the moon for a new day."
"Little people" resonate big
Blossoms inside the wall also incense outside the wall
It is these "little people" and "small stories" that resonate with audiences at home and abroad.
On July 15, 2021, "Above chai rice oil and salt" premiered on Southeast Satellite TV and Straits Satellite TV, and after that, it was broadcast on CCTV Agricultural and Rural Channel Prime Time, British Sky (SKY) TV and Discovery Channel in the United States, and released on Tencent Video's entire network; 14 overseas Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter accounts, including "Tangyuan Video", participated in overseas dissemination. Reached 23.573 million people, viewed 5.301 million times, and interacted nearly 160,000 times.
At the same time, the topic #Oscar-winning director made a well-off documentary in China, ranking 11th on the Weibo hot search list; for two consecutive weeks, it rushed to the 5th place in the total list of Tencent video documentaries and the 1st place in the documentary social list.
The major media praised "Above chai rice oil and salt": the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Desche News Agency carried out relevant news reports; more than 50 authoritative media such as People's Daily, Xinhua News Agency, CCTV, China News Agency, China Daily, Guangming Daily, China Youth Daily, etc., more than 70 tens of millions of blue V trumpets and film and television vertical large-scale direct hair, forwarding program-related microblogs, the total number of related topics read reached 140 million+. Overseas netizens commented: "For the poverty of that year and today's prosperity, only those of us who have experienced it have the deepest feelings!" May the motherland always be prosperous and strong! ”
"Above Chai Rice Oil and Salt" has also been highly recognized by the industry. Since its broadcast, "Above chai rice oil and salt" has won the 27th China Documentary Series Ten Excellent Works sponsored by the China Television Artists Association, the 10th China University Student Television Festival "College Students Appreciation recommended works" (documentary category) excellent works, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television 2021 Outstanding Overseas Communication Works Award, the 11th China Documentary Academy Awards and other awards, and shortlisted for the IDF West Lake International Documentary Conference, Guangzhou Documentary Festival and other important documentary festival exhibition awards.
In the context of the new globalization, how to better display China's image and let the world better perceive China, understand China, and read China has become the responsibility of mainstream media. As the co-producer and broadcast platform of "Above Chai Rice Oil and Salt", the Satellite Television Center of Fujian Radio, Film and Television Group (Southeast Satellite TV, Strait Satellite TV) adheres to the people-centered creative orientation, regards international communication as one of the important missions of the platform, and is committed to vividly depicting the new era and new journey, writing contemporary China, magnificent rivers and mountains, heroic people, and a great future.
Edit | Weng Xiang
Editor-in-Chief | Zhang Sugui
Producer | Wang Liming