AsiaLENS: AEMS Documentary and Independent Film Series: Up the Yangtze

• Event Date: Tuesday, February 2, 2010
• Time: 7:00 pm (CST)
• Location: Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana, IL
• Cost: Free Admission

• Film

Up the Yangtze

By Yung Chang, 2008, 93 minutes.
In Chinese and English with English subtitles.

Discussion led by Nancy Jervis (Program Coordinator, Asian Educational Media Service, UI).

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.

Up The Yangtze was reviewed by Darrin Magee in the Fall 2009 online only issue of

AEMS News and Reviews (PDF download) (external link).

The official Up the Yangtze website (external link) has trailers, information on the film, and the filmmakers.

AsiaLENS is organized by the Asian Educational Media Service in collaboration with the Spurlock Museum to present recent documentary films on issues in contemporary life in Asia.