Doctor Ma's Country Clinic R: Cong Feng Land: Volksrepublik China 2008 Drehformat: DVCAM Format: DVCAM, Farbe Länge: 215 Minuten Sprache: Mandarin mehr Informationen TRAILER / Flash / 2:28

Huangyangchuan, ein kleiner Ort in der Provinz Gansu im Nordwesten Chinas. Eine karge, verkarstete Landschaft. Hier hat Dr. Ma Bingcheng eine gut besuchte Praxis für traditionelle chinesische Medizin. Bei ihm sitzen die Bauern der Gegend und unterhalten sich über ihre Kümmernisse. Die harte Arbeit auf den spröden Äckern ist ihnen anzusehen. Der Arzt fühlt ihnen den Puls, mischt aus Wurzeln, Kräutern und Rinden eine geeignete Medizin und versucht mit leisen Fragen den Krankheiten auf den Grund zu kommen. (...) Der Dokumentarfilmer Cong Feng hört den Gesprächen geduldig zu. Die Kamera bleibt dicht bei den Menschen auf dem Land und ihren Nöten. Die Gesichter prägen sich ein. Am Ende gewinnt man den Eindruck, die Region und ihre Menschen so gut kennengelernt zu haben, als wäre man selbst dort gewesen. So behandelt Dr. Ma's Country Clinic nicht nur die Krankheiten, sondern auch den Gemütszustand von Menschen, die vom chinesischen Wirtschaftsaufschwung vergessen wurden.[aus dem Forumprogramm]

How would you describe the aesthetics of your film?
I abandon the traditional way of storytelling in common documentary films. There’s no ‘Leading role’ in my film. There are no stories in my film, there are many stories in my film. But as for the aesthetics of the film, I think it’s very hard to explain clearly in few words. I’d like to have others to discuss it with me.

Why did you choose to shoot on a digital format (was it solely for financial reasons, or did aesthetics play a role)?
First of all there is a financial reason. I have no other choice. But that’s not all.
I had the idea of shooting a documentary about a small town in Gansu, northwest China for years. I’d been living there for one year. At that time, DV cameras were rare and expensive. So I waited for 5 years to get a camera and finally started to shoot there.
I saw Wang Bing’s West Of The Tracks months before I began my own film, which was also shot in a digital format. I liked it very much and was inspired by him. I thought I can use DV camera to make a documentray film as good as West of The Tracks. So months later I bought a DV camera and started to make my own film.
I think the nature of the image and sound in digital format is different from 35mm. So it provides new challenges and possiblites for filmmakers to build a new language of cinema

Which format exactly did you choose (MiniDV, DVCAM, HDV, HD...), and why?
I used DVCAM, because the image quality of DVCAM is better than MiniDV, and it’s more professional. I can’t afford to use HDV. By the way, sometimes I don’t like the 16:9 ratio of HDV cameras, I feel it’s a little bit weird and unreal. Anyway, I want to try HDV later on, since the image quality will be much better.

What was special about shooting digital (e.g. compared to 35mm, was it your first time with dv or are you used to it ..)?
I think if you shoot in 35mm, there’s no possibility to make a film on your own. But DV cameras give people such kind of possibilites. A DV camera is convenient, you can work by your own, you can use it as a pen.
I never used a DV camera before I began to shoot my own film. Now I’m used to the camera, I like the feeling when shooting, sometimes the camera is a weapon, sometimes an arm. With the camera, you can build new connection with people.

What was your shoot-edit ratio?
30:1

One good word about DV / HDV (or two):
Revolution.

One bad word about DV / HDV (or two):
Population.