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Up the Yangtze (Short Version)

A luxury cruise boat motors up the Yangtze - navigating the mythic waterway known in China simply as 'the river.' See it while you can. The Yangtze is about to be transformed by the biggest hydroelectric dam in history. At the river's edge - a young woman says goodbye to her family as the floodwaters rise towards their small homestead. The Three Gorges Dam - contested symbol of the Chinese economic miracle - provides the epic backdrop for Up the Yangtze, a dramatic feature documentary on life inside the 21st century Chinese dream. Chinese-Canadian filmmaker Yung Chang crafts a moving …

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A luxury cruise boat motors up the Yangtze - navigating the mythic waterway known in China simply as 'the river.' See it while you can. The Yangtze is about to be transformed by the biggest hydroelectric dam in history. At the river's edge - a young woman says goodbye to her family as the floodwaters rise towards their small homestead.

The Three Gorges Dam - contested symbol of the Chinese economic miracle - provides the epic backdrop for Up the Yangtze, a dramatic feature documentary on life inside the 21st century Chinese dream. Chinese-Canadian filmmaker Yung Chang crafts a moving depiction of peasant life, a powerful narrative of contemporary China, and a disquieting glimpse into a future that awaits us all.

  • associate producer
    Lixin Fan
    Li Li
  • production supervisor
    Michael MK Siu
  • music
    Olivier Alary
  • editor
    Hannele Halm
  • director of photography
    Wang Shi Qing
  • executive producer
    Daniel Cross
    Mila Aung-Thwin
    Ravida Din
    Sally Bochner
    Sydney Suissa
    Stephen Hunter
    Cara Mertes
    Jean Pelletier
    Hans Robert Eisenhauer
  • producer
    Mila Aung-Thwin
    Germaine Ying Gee Wong
    John Christou
  • director
    Yung Chang
  • participant
    Cindy Yu Shui
    Yu Ting Jun
    Yang Zhi Bi
    Yu Zhang Ying
    Yu Deng Feng
    Jerry Chen Bo Yu
    Spencer Zheng Li Jie
  • commissioning editor
    Catherine Olsen
    Charlotte Odele
  • cinematographer
    Wang Shi Qing
    Yung Chang
  • additional camera operator
    Lixin Fan
    Feng Lan
    Zhang Huajie
  • sound recordist
    Lixin Fan
  • translator
    Lixin Fan
    Li Li
    Jonathan Chang
  • driver
    Cheng Zheng Yi
  • production assistant
    Jonathan Chang
    Fu Zheng Hua
    Zhu Fa
    Fan Li Ming
    Sia Koukoulas
    Miya Kondo
  • additional picture editor
    Yung Chang
  • broadcast picture editor
    Omar Majeed
  • editing consultant
    Daniel Cross
  • online editor
    Denis Gathelier
  • post-production supervisor
    Michael MK Siu
    Gary Evans
  • post-production co-ordinator
    Omar Majeed
    Linda Payette
    Steve Hallé
  • unit administrator
    Marie Tonto-Donati
    Nickie Merulla
    Dan Emery
  • technical co-ordination
    Pierre Ferlatte
  • project support supervisor
    Pierre Ferlatte
  • marketing manager
    Moira Keigher
  • digital editing supervisor
    Danielle Raymond
  • transcription
    Sherren Lee
    Li Li
  • supervising sound editor
    Cory Rizos
  • sound editor
    Kyle Stanfield
  • titles
    Les Productions Zéphyr
  • dialogue editor
    Cory Rizos
  • subtitles
    Global Vision
  • sound mixer
    Serge Boivin
    Shelley Craig
  • still photographer
    Yung Chang
    Michael MK Siu
  • sound technician
    Sylvain Cajelais
  • production accountant
    Anuj Khosla
  • foley artist
    Karl De Serres
  • production auditor
    Joe Iacono
  • foley recordist
    Geoffrey Mitchell
  • musician
    Liu Fang
    Eric Hove
    Bethany Or
    Alain Aubut
    Jean René
    Stéphane Allard
    Céline Arcand
    Johannes Malfatti
    Olivier Alary
    François Larouche
  • ADR recordist
    Luc Léger
  • narration recordist
    Luc Léger
  • Dolby sound consultant
    Bill Allen
  • project administrator
    Anuj Khosla
  • project coordinator
    Halima Ouardiri
  • sound engineer
    Howard Bilerman
  • arrangements
    Johannes Malfatti
  • orchestration
    Johannes Malfatti
  • score producer
    Olivier Alary
  • score mixer
    Olivier Alary

Education

Ages 13 to 15
School subjects
This documentary allows students to learn about challenges in modern China and certain problems that the country faces on a human scale. It will surely be interesting to ask students to think about different social realities. You can get them to list differences and similarities between their lives and that of the young Chinese woman in the film. You can also have a class debate about relocation and the rights of individuals in the face of state-run development projects.

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