Film fest highlights mountain cultures

Hundreds of filmmakers have gathered at the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau for a documentary film festival that centers on threatened cultures in high-altitude environments.

The organizers of the 2014 Qinghai World Mountain Documentary Festival, which was held in Golmud, Qinghai province, from Sunday to Tuesday, received 551 documentaries. They have grouped films into three categories - anthropology, society and nature - for awards considerations.

The documentaries were all filmed at altitudes above 500 meters in 36 countries and regions, said Sun Jianying, chair of the festival's judging committee.

"In a world of increasing globalization and development, mountain inhabitants are fortunate as physical isolation has made it possible for them to keep their values and traditions. But their cultures must be salvaged and conserved before it's too late. The documentaries help to preserve the genes of their culture," said Sun.

The Chinese production Village Diary, a nominee for best long documentary in the society category, recorded the lives of several farmers and their families in a remote village in northern China over the course of a year to uncover the challenges faced in rural China.

"It's touching but in a very restrained way. Audiences can feel the warmth of the faith and enthusiasm of the farmers, even when they are enduring miserable situations. It's really powerful," Sun said.

Sun was also impressed by a number of other Chinese entries, though she noted that domestic productions have a long way to go compared to their foreign peers.

"In the anthropology and society categories, outstanding documentaries produced in China as well as in Asia have made much progress ... yet in the nature group, the number of excellent productions made in China and Asia is still limited, which requires attention and investment," she said.

French director Agnes Moreau believes documentary makers have a responsibility to raise awareness of overlooked or misunderstood people - in this case, mountain dwellers.

"In a documentary about mountain life, you have to show the changes in the mountain areas and fight against people's prejudices. Some say mountain people always stick to old ways, but actually they are very adaptable. They are quick to learn about earthquakes, floods, landslides, and adapt to the situation immediately," she said.

In explaining her film A Dark Cloud on Top of the World, she said: "For me, the meaning of documentary is to fight for truth: scientific truth, sentimental truth and truth about humanity. In my documentary, I explored the pollution on the Himalayas, presenting the scientific truth to my audiences."

The event was scheduled to hand out 21 awards to 19 productions from nine countries on Tuesday night, including China, South Korea, Finland, France and Austria.