Soon after the Chinese New Year holiday in mid-February, a Christian director released his autobiographical documentary themed “social pressure to marry”, filmed over 10 years.
“The 10-year filming consisted of three initial years of taking photos, and the rest of shooting videos. After 60 days, it has been edited into a film of 95 minutes. This is my story with the documentary ‘Flight of the Honeybees’, my story with parents and relatives as well as the true story of being pushed to get married by my family and relatives. It adopts listening as its documenting style, so the director is both a listener and a recorder”, said its director Geng Haiyang.
During the Spring Festival of 2010, Geng Haiyang, a Christian director, began to take photos casually when back to his hometown in northern Jiangsu Province, shooting scenes of rural areas, busy parents, kinsfolks making the rounds, and people going to a fair.
He filmed the story of his parents from the Chinese New Year of 2014 until 2020.
In the story that includes the holiday customs and country fairs, his parents shared with him how their village changed each year.
After COVID-19 broke out in early 2020, the 95-minute-long documentary, “Flight of the Honeybees”, was completed in three months.
Frames of his hometown’s transformation, Chinese Lunar Year custom legacy, and rural local dramas, all showcased the new year atmosphere.
Nagging from his parents is one of features. He said, “As a listener and additionally a recorder, I make a record of everything. When they were pushing me to marry, they recounted a dozen of real people and real stories around them. The topics they covered entailed more than marriage itself. There were several topics concerning rural society.”
“The issue of being pressured to get married is more than just marriage itself. In a sincere and authentic attitude, the film presents you with deep stories and social concerns behind people who are single and above the society's median age of marriage; being forced to get married under the multi-faceted rural social pattern. I, being one of the victims, believe more people will empathize with us after watching the film; I expect it to bring more comfort and soul healing to like-minded people”, he revealed.
During this year’s Spring Festival, he opened the film to the public free of charge.
“As the pandemic is not yet over during the holiday, many people chose to stay in their current places of residence. I think some of them have encountered situations similar to mine. I would like to share my story with them, hoping it can bring them a bit of comfort.”
- Translated by Karen Luo
2021年的春节刚结束不久，一位基督徒导演耿海洋弟兄在网上公开分享了他坚持10年拍摄，完成的一部自传体的以逼婚为主题的纪录片《蜂拥而至》。
“10年坚持拍摄，前3年拍摄图片，后7年拍摄视频，历经60天，剪辑成片95分钟，这就是我与纪录片《蜂拥而至》的故事，也是我与父母家人的故事，是被家人与亲戚逼婚的真实故事，本片运用倾听式的记录形式进行，作者既是倾听者，又是记录者。”耿海洋如此说。
2010年春节，海洋弟兄回到家乡，开始无意识的拍摄照片，乡村美景、父母的忙碌、亲戚串门、春节赶集等热闹的场景。随后，2014年春节开始到2020年截至，海洋弟兄拍摄父母春节的故事。故事中，父母会给海洋弟兄讲每一年村里的变化，也记录了春节的习俗、乡村春节的集市等。
2020年春节，疫情爆发，海洋弟兄大概用了3个月的时间，剪辑完成了95分钟的纪录片《蜂拥而至》。纪录片里，可以看到7年间家乡的变化、春节习俗的传承、乡村的地方戏等很有年味的画面。当然，纪录片中也少不了父母的唠叨。
“我既作为一个倾听者，又作为一个记录者，把这一切都记录了下来。父母在逼婚中，通过摆事实讲道理，真实地讲述了身边数十个真人真事，所谈到的话题远远不止婚姻本身，而我细细数来，则涉及农村社会的多个话题。”耿海洋分享说，“逼婚问题远远不止婚姻本身，本片以极其真诚和真实的态度呈现给大家的是多面的农村社会形态下的大龄逼婚现象背后的深层故事和社会问题，也相信更多人观看后会有同感，也期待本片可以带给同类人更多慰藉和心灵的疗伤。”
2021年春节， 海洋弟兄决定公开纪录片，他分享说：“2021年的春节疫情还没有消散，很多人都就地过年，跟我有一样境遇的人我想还是有一部分，我愿意分享我的故事，哪怕能给他们带去一点安慰。”
基督徒导演坚持10年拍摄 推出自传体逼婚主题纪录片《蜂拥而至》
Soon after the Chinese New Year holiday in mid-February, a Christian director released his autobiographical documentary themed “social pressure to marry”, filmed over 10 years.
“The 10-year filming consisted of three initial years of taking photos, and the rest of shooting videos. After 60 days, it has been edited into a film of 95 minutes. This is my story with the documentary ‘Flight of the Honeybees’, my story with parents and relatives as well as the true story of being pushed to get married by my family and relatives. It adopts listening as its documenting style, so the director is both a listener and a recorder”, said its director Geng Haiyang.
During the Spring Festival of 2010, Geng Haiyang, a Christian director, began to take photos casually when back to his hometown in northern Jiangsu Province, shooting scenes of rural areas, busy parents, kinsfolks making the rounds, and people going to a fair.
He filmed the story of his parents from the Chinese New Year of 2014 until 2020.
In the story that includes the holiday customs and country fairs, his parents shared with him how their village changed each year.
After COVID-19 broke out in early 2020, the 95-minute-long documentary, “Flight of the Honeybees”, was completed in three months.
Frames of his hometown’s transformation, Chinese Lunar Year custom legacy, and rural local dramas, all showcased the new year atmosphere.
Nagging from his parents is one of features. He said, “As a listener and additionally a recorder, I make a record of everything. When they were pushing me to marry, they recounted a dozen of real people and real stories around them. The topics they covered entailed more than marriage itself. There were several topics concerning rural society.”
“The issue of being pressured to get married is more than just marriage itself. In a sincere and authentic attitude, the film presents you with deep stories and social concerns behind people who are single and above the society's median age of marriage; being forced to get married under the multi-faceted rural social pattern. I, being one of the victims, believe more people will empathize with us after watching the film; I expect it to bring more comfort and soul healing to like-minded people”, he revealed.
During this year’s Spring Festival, he opened the film to the public free of charge.
“As the pandemic is not yet over during the holiday, many people chose to stay in their current places of residence. I think some of them have encountered situations similar to mine. I would like to share my story with them, hoping it can bring them a bit of comfort.”
- Translated by Karen Luo
Christian Director Releases Autobiographical Documentary "Flight of the Honeybees" After 10-Year Effort
