EXCLUSIVE: The Blue Kite director Tian Zhuangzhuang returns to filmmaking with his latest drama Song Of The Birds, which China’s Rediance is introducing at the Cannes market.
Adapted from Ah Cheng’s 1984 classic novella The King Of Trees, the film is set during China’s Cultural Revolution and marks Tian’s first film since 2009.
The story follows a group of city youth sent to the countryside to experience peasant life. When they want to cut down the ancient trees as part of the country-wide agricultural reform, conflict arises between ideology and the inherent laws of nature. The cast includes Zhang Yu, Zhou Qi, Vanda Margraf, and Yue Xiaoke.
Tian said that he wants to explore “the relationship between humanity’s faith in itself, and its faith in the mysteries of the natural world.”
“He has always been one of the Chinese filmmakers we admire most deeply,” said Rediance CEO Xie Meng. “It is a great honour for us, following the presentation of the restored version of his early masterpiece The Horse Thief at Cannes Classics [in 2019], to once again collaborate with him on his first feature-length film completed after many years away from filmmaking.
“This remarkable work offers a profound reflection on contemporary Chinese history, while also resonating strongly with the questions we continue to confront today about the relationship between humanity and nature.”
Tian is a respected figure of China’s Fifth Generation filmmakers whose features include The Blue Kite, which premiered in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes in 1993 and went on to win best film at Tokyo International Film Festival.
After many years devoted to film education and producing, he returns to directing and revisits his longstanding reflections on contemporary Chinese history and memory. He was formerly head of the directing department of the Beijing Film Academy and is vice president of the Shanghai Film Academy.
Among the backers are Beijing Shenbao Film & Media, Thoroughfare Cultural Media and Edko (Beijing) Films.
In Cannes, Rediance is also representing Next Step Studio Indonesia, an anthology film by four Indonesian and four Southeast Asian directors that will premiere in Critics’ Week.
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