My Father's Journey

Chongren He was born in 1936, in Li Jiang, a small town close to the border of Tibet. He is a descendent of the Naxi, one of the fifty-six Chinese minorities which has a population of 300,000. What makes the Naxi unique is their ancient Dongba culture preserved through the millenary pictographic writing. This particular pictogram is the only living one in use today and is called the "living fossil". Besieged by the constant political upheavals and the assimilation of the dominant Chinese modern culture, he currently lives in a small village similar to an isolated island surrounded by endless waves of tourists. This film explores how an individual of 82 years of age can build his own spiritual castle to protect himself and his frail yet precious culture.