A NEW ERA
Boris Svartzman | China, France 2019 | 72 Min. | OmeU
Austrian Premiere
In the river Zhujiang, in the middle of the megapolis Guangzhou, lies a little populated island – a thorn in the side of the authorities of the growing metropolis. In 2008, the expropriation and eviction of two thousand inhabitants was initiated to make way for new urban planning projects – a fate shared by millions of Chinese citizens every year. Despite the demolition of their houses and pressure from the authorities, a few residents refuse to leave their homes. For seven years the anthropologist Boris Svartzman accompanied them through the struggle to save their homeland.
A New Era allows us to take part in the fate of dispossessed people and unadornedly documents their seemingly hopeless resistance.
Director: Boris Svartzman
Camera and Sound: Boris Svartzman
Editing: Suzana Pedro, Emma Augier
Producers: Anne-Catherine Witt, Antonio Magliano I Macalube Films, Prima Luce
Screenings
DOK LEIPZIG – International Premiere, International Program – Germany, 2019/10
CHINA SCREEN FESTIVAL – Official competition – France, 2019/10
IMAGE DE VILLE – Opening film of the Festival – France, 2019/11
JEAN ROUCH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL – Intangible Cultural Heritage Award – France, 2019/11
ETHNOFEST, Athens Ethnographic Film Festival – Theme: Contested gentrification in times of change – Greece, 2019/11
TRACES DE VIES – First Professional Film Award – France, 2019/12
FIFDH, HUMAN RIGHTS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL of Paris – Official competition and closing film of the festival – France, 2019/12
LA PREMIÈRE FOIS – France, 2020/03
Awards
JEAN ROUCH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL – Intangible Cultural Heritage Award – France, 2019/11
IMAGES EN BIBLIOTHÈQUES – CNC Award, French National Library Catalog Selection –2019/11
TRACES DE VIES – First Professional Film Award – France, 2019/12
Biography
Boris Svartzman, a Franco-Argentinian photographer and sociologist, has documented the social consequences of urbanisation in China since the beginning of the 2000s. His pictures have been exhibited in several festivals, including the prestigious Visa pour l’image. He focuses on the lives of the millions of peasants who are evicted every year in China and relocated to urban areas. For seven years, he has filmed the struggle of villagers against the expropriation of their land, in his debut film, A New Era.
