Directing
White Tower is about Li Jingming and Wong Rui’s budding romance in a part of the world where progress is painfully slow. He is twice divorced and she is engaged to a man from Taiwan, but their friends conspire to ensure their happiness with each other.
This film depicts daily life at a school for students with hearing and vision disabilities in Zhengzhou, Henan Province. As these girls deal with their everyday teen problems at school, they express themselves in sign language, movement, and the beautiful song Caro Mio Ben, conveying their rebelliousness against the teachers, their feelings for a beloved turtle, their anxieties about the future, and their anger at the unfair gods. As if watching over the growth of these girls, the camera carefully captures their words and gestures, staring deep into their vacillating hearts.
In the mid-1980s, a dozen old people in Old Latse Village in Shigatse, Tibet, voluntarily organized the reconstruction of the Gyang Temple, which was destroyed in the Cultural Revolution. With the assistance of villagers, the reconstruction took 10 years. In 1995, they had admitted new members and founded a Mani Association. These old people chant Mani collectively for three days every month. In addition, following the ancient practice in the village, they pray for the safety of the villagers by piously worshiping the gods and making offerings to ghosts. But their ultimate purpose is to support any member to complete their final life journey by organizing a vigil and attending his or her funeral.
