Film Synopsis
Seattle International Film Festival
Film Entry:
WANTU RIVER
Film Synopsis
In present day China, a young man from Beijing travels with his girlfriend to a remote
village in Mongolia named Wantu River. He has a vague notion that the mother he
never knew may live in that village.
The story then centers on the year 1970, and on a young woman, Jasmin, an ‘Urban
Youth’ girl from Beijing, who is sent alone to this remote village in Mongolia during
the ‘Cultural Revolution’. She has no friends and she is the only one left from her
family. Her parents were beaten to death by the Red Guard after she reported their
‘wrong doings’ to the authority. Shanhua, a simple, warm-hearted village peasant
girl, takes Jasmin under her protection and they quickly became intimate best friends
and vow to be together forever.
An incident occurs that parallels the “wrong doings” of Jasmin’s parents, only this
time it is Jasmin herself who commits the infraction. She is terrified she will be
jailed and killed. But nothing happens to her despite the fact that the village director
caught her in the act of desecrating Mao’s image.
As winter begins, Jasmin becomes frustrated by and resentful towards Shanhua’s
unexplainable pregnancy. When Jasmin wants to follow the authority’s direction to
go to the newly re-established college in the city, she learns that the distance between
her and Shanhua is the result of Shanhua’s efforts to protect her from the village
director’s harassment. But it is too late for the two girls. One must die and one
must live her life out in Wantu River village.
Contact Info:
Producer: Xiaoli Ding
Phone: 206-992-5017
Email: xlding@yahoo.com
Address: 1511 3rd Ave. Suite 801
Seattle, WA 98101
