The gentle and lingering Yaojia mountain songs and the free and lively Dongxiang flowers, the energetic Orun Spring Bear Dance and the Tu tribe wishing for a good harvest "Crop Qi", the Xinyi flower sea of the Qiang people on the clouds and the Jingmai tea mountain of the Dai family in Wuli... When these pictures full of power and beauty meet with modern technologies such as live broadcast, VR, and big data, the national stories between green mountains and green waters are newly told.

The eight-episode documentary "In the Green Mountains and Green Waters" ended on May 8, spreading the picture of rural revitalization of eight ethnic minorities, including Yao, Dongxiang, Naxi, Tu, Qiang, Orunchun, Dai and Uygur.

The two directors of the documentary, Sun Lu is a post-80s and Liu Weichen is a post-90s, when they were interviewed by a reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Network, "research" became the key word - this is a documentary derived from research. The two young people have emphasized more than once that they must conduct in-depth research and get along with the protagonist day and night before shooting, in order to keenly capture the vivid scene, real cases, and vivid character states in the first moment of shooting.

Problem-seeking journey

In order to accurately select typical figures of ethnic minorities in the field of rural revitalization, this young team embarked on a "problem-seeking journey" throughout the motherland. 10 research groups set out one after another, from the ancient Yao village in the mountains of Hunan to the artistic village in Xing'an Ridge, from the Turkish intangible cultural heritage on the banks of the Yellow River to the unity train at the foot of the Tianshan Mountain... From the first day of departure to the completion of the filming of 8 episodes, it took one year, the program team traveled through 11 provinces (cities, districts) across the country, traveled tens of thousands of kilometers, visited more than 10 ethnic minorities, investigated more than 300 people, and finally presented the rural revitalization stories of 8 ethnic groups.

After taking the research step, how to do the research? A common saying in the team is: think, it's all a problem; Doing is the answer. "We use 'sinking' research to capture the most vivid stories and emotions. We believe that this is the simplest and most direct way to do a good documentary, there are no shortcuts. Sun Lu said.

In the Uyghur investigation, the director team personally experienced the 32 hours on the slow train of the "Hetian Yulong" across northern and southern Xinjiang, lived in the train operator's lounge with the "pomegranate brothers and sisters", inspected the carriage together, and discussed the shooting arrangements in a small space... In the era of fast high-speed rail, this convenient slow train was called "get rich car" by the people along the line. Because the carriages often sell special products, travelers call it a mobile bazaar, which means "mobile bazaar" in Uyghur.

The captain of the "Hetian Yulong" Polati Khan and the crew member Mayan Saimat often sell special products for ethnic minority villagers along the line, and are affectionately known as "pomegranate brothers and sisters". The 1960,21-kilometre journey passes through 88 stations and <> stops, many at three or four in the morning. The director team saw that the "pomegranate brothers and sisters" almost stayed up all night, the children had a high fever, and the passengers lost their belongings... They are always ready to deal with all kinds of emergencies; And when they see villagers along the route boarding the "mobile bazaar" with special products, the corners of their mouths will unconsciously rise.

This kind of research became the basis for the creation of "In the Green Mountains and Green Waters". Sun Lu recalled that in order to film the Tibetan antelope daddy of the Turkish ethnic group who had been guarding the road for several years, the director team "huddled and warmed" on the cold and oxygen-deficient snowfield of Cocoxili, waiting for the appearance of Tibetan antelope; In order to record the traditional music of the Qiang people, they crossed the deep mountains of western Sichuan to search for many non-genetic inheritors; In order to present the national unity and friendship of east-west cooperation and common development, the director team traveled thousands of kilometers from Zhejiang to Guangxi to interview and record...

Sometimes, shooting is not only hard, but also pushes physical and mental limits.

Sun Lu remembers that in the sacred mountain of the Naxi people, Haba Snow Mountain in Yunnan, in order to film the snow mountain rescue team's climbing, the film crew needed to complete the shooting during three days and two nights of hiking and climbing. "Fortunately, the Snow Mountain Rescue Team can always help us save the day with the most professional skills in the first time." Sun Lu said.

Rural revitalization is a "tide" thing

However, young people are good at "taking pleasure in suffering".

Liu Weichen recalled that when shooting in the depths of Yao Mountain, the climate was humid and cold, rainy and continuous, everyone used herbs to dispel wind and dehumidification, wrapped the equipment with a cut plastic film, tied a rope around the waist and climbed and filmed in the deep mountains, but everyone's mantra was "rest assured, it's okay"; During the research in Tibet, mosquitoes left countless bags on everyone's face and body, which could not be removed for months, so everyone "selected" who was the most popular with mosquitoes; When filming "First Village of the Desert" in the Taklamakan Desert, no matter what kind of protective equipment could not stop the fine grains of sand, the film crew simply "coexisted peacefully" with the yellow sand, and the sand became a characteristic "delicacy"...

When it comes to ethnic minorities and rural revitalization, there will always be some stereotypes, but the two young directors found that rural revitalization can be a very "trendy" thing.

In Yuhu Village, Lijiang, Yunnan Province, at an altitude of 4000,2011 meters, they met a group of children who yearned for football. The sun and wind of the plateau carved dark marks on the faces of the children, but they could not cover the light in their eyes. "My name is He Yongmei, I am in the fifth grade this year, I want to be a female coach in the future" "My name is Yang Kang, born in 11, I want to be a football player when I grow up" "Mu Guirou, <> years old, I want to be the best athlete like Ronaldo"... In the interview, the children's wishes, Sun Lu and Liu Weichen saw an ancient nation meet the landscape of a young sport, living up to their youth.

Liu Weichen introduced that every Torch Festival, local villagers will spontaneously organize the "Torch Cup" football league, which has now been held for the 32nd time. The villagers say, "I can play ball when I can stand up when I am a child." As a "veteran" of the league, Lu Genhua, a post-80s boy from the Naxi ethnic group, has participated in 29 consecutive "Torch Cups" and is now a coach, and his father in his 60s has also been playing football since he was a teenager. Now in his yard, the scene of grandfather, son and grandson playing football together is played out almost every day.

In recent years, Yunnan Lijiang Yulong Naxi Autonomous County has sent 11 athletes to provincial sports teams and football clubs across the country. More and more Naxi children have embarked on the road of specialization, and football has become a new national culture. In 2018, 28 professional training outlets and 4 football branches were opened, so that every child who loves football can have their own world.

Sun Lu said: "Oral transmission is the oldest way of inheriting national culture, and with the development of society and the emergence of all ethnic groups into a community, the sons and daughters of all ethnic groups full of wisdom and broad vision, with the help of new concepts and technologies, innovate the way of inheritance, the national culture has rejuvenated with new vitality." ”

Zhao Kongjin, a Yao entrepreneur from Hunan Province, cooperated with Li Sufang, an expert in Yao embroidery, to develop Yao embroidery smart buttons, allowing the beauty that has passed through thousands of years to be reborn in big data and enter the international stage; The embroiderers of the Dongxiang ethnic group in Gansu formed a modeling team under the leadership of Ma Xiaoxiao, and took Dongxiang embroidery from the field of Louzi Village all the way to the International Fashion Week in Beijing and Shanghai; Qi Xuejing, a Qinghai Tu girl, used VR technology to let more people who could not get to the scene experience the enthusiastic carnival of the national intangible cultural heritage festival...

Happiness is written on the face

Filming "In the Green Mountains and Green Waters", the two young directors and their little friends really walked into the green mountains and green waters, and even more into the people. What Sun Lu will never forget are those smiles: "When we walk into ethnic minority villages, compatriots of all ethnic groups who come to us will always smile and greet you and send you invitations to be guests." That kind of happiness, written on the face, can't hide it. ”

During the filming of the Dai people, it happened to be the season when Jingmai mountain tea farmers picked spring tea, people went out to pick tea during the day, and went home to fry tea at night, and the smell of tea wafted in the air of the village. The schedule of the film crew has been very rushed, rushing the daylight, chasing the time, after the filming day, they dragged their tired bodies back to the village, and they could always meet the kind Dai grandma at the corner of the village entrance, and said with a smile: "Sit down and rest, drink tea before leaving." ”

"The leisurely self-satisfaction and comfort in Dai grandma is the steadiness after living a rich life, and the positive feedback after being treated gently, and now she passes on this happiness and warmth to us." Sun Lu said. As for whether the tea has a miraculous effect, you may wish to go to Jingmai Mountain to experience it for yourself after watching the documentary.

Jiang Xiaobin, reporter of China Youth Daily Source: China Youth Daily