Guangnan is a Dong village in the Guangxi region of southern China. Like many villages in the region, it is in transition: residents leave to work in the cities, new buildings replace old ones, and traditions are adapted, revived, or lost. Dong Triptych documents the village during a period of targeted change. It follows a series of interventions from outside, among them the reconstruction of an altar dedicated to Sà, the ancestral goddess of Dong belief. The project starts from a paradox: rural heritage is shaped by the same economic and social forces that put it under pressure. Guangnan offers a close view of how one community negotiates between the two.

The film is organized in three parts, each with its own way of seeing. The first is observational, following daily life and ongoing work in the village and how residents and local customs respond to change. The second is analytical, drawing on statistical and archival research to place Guangnan within the wider development of rural China. The third turns to animation, giving form to myths and lore from Dong oral tradition. The project is being developed with the residents of Guangnan and local organizations. Its three parts let the village be read at once as a lived place, as one case within a national transformation, and as the keeper of a living mythology.

OUTPUT

Documentary film

Installation

Exhibition

TEAM

Aleksa Milojević (Director/Producer)

Joseph Reich (Director/Producer)

Matthew Wilde (Director/Producer)

Mariam Mumladze (Lead Researcher)

Amelia Gates (Creative Director)

PARTNERS

[pending]

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