Cotton (dir. Zhou Hao)
For over a decade, Zhou Hao has been making independent documentaries probing many of China’s most urgent social issues, including migrant labor, drug abuse, law enforcement and political corruption. The former journalist’s fearless and resourceful investigations have won him acclaim at various festivals; dGenerate distributes two of his most well-regarded titles, Using and The Transition Period. His most recent work is achieving even greater levels of recognition.
Last month, the Taiwan Golden Horse Film Festival awarded its Best Documentary prize to Zhou’s newest film, Cotton. In this feature, Zhou profiles a farmer, a cotton picker and workers in cotton factories, who represent the unseen labor behind China’s cotton industry.
Last week, the Sundance Institute announced that Zhou’s upcoming film The Chinese Mayor will have its world premiere in the Sundance International Film Festival’s World Documentary Competition. In this feature, Zhou closely follows Mayor Geng Yanbo, who is determined to transform the coal-mining center of Datong, in China’s Shanxi province, into a tourism haven showcasing clean energy. In order to achieve that, however, he has to relocate 500,000 residences to make way for the restoration of the ancient city.
Heartiest congratulations to Zhou Hao on his recent and continued success.