Datong

Jan 26 2015 Not Rated 1h 29m
Documentary, Drama, News

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. Thousands of homes are to be bulldozed, and a half-million of its residents (30 percent of Datong’s total population) will be relocated under his watch. Whether he succeeds depends entirely on his ability to calm swarms of furious workers and an increasingly perturbed ruling elite. The Chinese Mayor captures, with remarkable access, a man and, by extension, a country leaping frantically into an increasingly unstable future.

Plot

DATONG follows the life and work of a controversial Chinese Communist Mayor GENG YANBO to tell the story about how he takes a radical reform to demolish 140,000 households and relocate half a million people to give way to restoration of Ancient relic walls in order to adopt a clean economic growth from tourism and culture, which he believes will do good to DA TONG citizen in the long term. With two years in the footsteps of GENG, along with the changing ideology and confrontations from the public, the film is trying to draw a looming shape of future of China.

Written by

Qi Zhao, Hao Zhou

Directed by

Hao Zhou

Cast

Li Fu, Ma Suying, Geng Yangbo

Crew

View crew

Production Countries

China

Production Companies

?????

Languages

Awards

4 wins & 2 nominations

Scores
# of Votes
962
Average Rating
7.7 out of 10
Metascore
NA
Popularity
NA