Up the Yangtze

By Other News Sources on January 14, 2008 • ( Leave a comment )

Straight from the Sundance Film Festival to a Canadian cinema near you.

Toronto, February 8th, 2008: CUMBERLAND Cinemas
Vancouver, February 15th: THE RIDGE Theatre
Montreal, February 22nd: AMC FORUM 22 Theatre
Ottawa, February 29th: BYTOWNE Cinema

About the Film | PI’s Involvement | Critical Acclaim | Screenings

About the Film

Known in China simply as The River, the mythic Yangtze is being transformed by the largest hydroelectric dam in history. Stunningly photographed and beautifully composed, Up the Yangtze juxtaposes the poignant and sharply observed details of Yu Shui and her family’s life along the riverside against the monumental and ominous forces at work around them.

PI’s Involvement

When Yung Chang began researching the Three Gorges dam for his extraordinary documentary, Up the Yangtze, he went straight to the researchers at Probe International, publishers of Three Gorges Probe.

For the last 10 years, the independent news service Three Gorges Probe has been the only definitive source for in-depth and accurate information about the Three Gorges dam. By working with experts in the field and those on the ground in China, TGP has cut through the official double speak—often breaking important stories before the popular press—and ensured that the issues surrounding this controversial dam stay in the public consciousness.

Critical Acclaim

For 20 years, I’ve read every detail that has leaked out of China about the Three Gorges dam. But nothing, before this film, has put me so vividly in the shoes of citizens affected by this dam. ‘Up the Yangtze’ gives life to all the statistics and mind boggling details.

It made me laugh. It made me cry. And it helped me to feel — really feel — what it is like to be in the path of this dam.

“Bravo” to Yung Chang for recording an important part of modern Chinese history that the Chinese government would prefer to skip. This is an outstanding film.

Patricia Adams
Executive Director, Probe International Publisher,
Three Gorges Probe, China Rivers Probe Editor
Yangtze! Yangtze!
Earthscan, 1994.

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A gloriously cinematic doc of epic, poetic sadness.

Variety Review

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There have been, and will be, many films dealing with the flooding of China’s Yangtze River. This one is not to be missed. … Extraordinary.

Globe and Mail

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Watching Up the Yangtze is one of those experiences that reinvigorates and restores your faith in the documentary film medium.

Matthew Hays, Film Critic