The Chinese Mayor

Synopsis

Once the thriving capital of Imperial China, the city of Datong now lies in near ruins. Not only is it the most polluted city in the country, it is also crippled by decrepit infrastructure and even shakier economic prospects. But Mayor Geng Tanbo plans to change all that, announcing a bold, new plan to return Datong to its former glory, the cultural haven it was some 1,600 years ago. Such declarations, however, come at a devastatingly high cost.

Director Biography

Hao Zhou, born in 1968, started his career as a photographer for China’s national news group Xinhua News Agency and Southern Weekly, the country’s most influential weekly newspaper. His debut documentary “Hou Jie Township” (2001) won the Black Pottery Award (Best New Professional Reward) at the Yunnan Multi-Culture Visual Festival. He went on to direct “Senior Year” which won the Humanitarian Award for Best Documentary at the Hong Kong International Festival in 2006, followed by “Using”, which clinched the Asia Award the Taiwan International Documentary Festival 2008.