Directors: Qiankuan Li and Guiyan Xiao
2010, China, 106 min.
Set in Macau during the early 1900s, this biographical drama sheds light on the life of one of China’s most famous musicians and composers, Xian Xinghai. Set against the colorful backdrop of the unique culture of the impoverished Tankas (exiled boat people), the film highlights Xinghai’s determination to succeed. Discriminated against and banned from attending school, his mother teaches him the value of education while his grandfather introduces him to the indigenous mud pipe and bamboo flute – his first musical instruments. He goes on to study violin and piano and becomes the first Chinese student admitted to the Paris Conservatory. When he returns to China in 1935, he takes part in patriotic activities and composes many famous vocal works during the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). Xinghai, “The People’s Composer,” wrote over 300 compositions before his death at age 40.
