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by Weina Zhao and Judith Benedikt
grade: 7
Hands kneading dumplings, an entire family gathered around the table to cook, food being prepared with love and bringing everyone together. Just as oriental cinema has always shown us. And again, views of Shanghai and Beijing from above – cities that have suffered much over the years and where the consequences of war are still evident – but also the wide streets and parks of the Austrian capital. All this is Weiyena – Ein Heimatfilm. At the Diagonale 2021.
Weina’s two homelands
The young filmmaker Weina Zhao was named by her parents after the city of Vienna. Her family had moved here in order to give her a better future. However, the filmmaker is Chinese, but knows very little about her homeland and only from the perspective of a ‘tourist’ who occasionally visits her grandparents. Why, then, not try to deepen her knowledge of her home country through a series of stories, investigations and old photographs? Thus originated the documentary Weiyena – Ein Heimatfilm, made by Weina Zhao herself together with Judith Benedikt and premiered at the Diagonale 2021.
Weiyena – Ein Heimatfilm is an extremely intimate and personal documentary. A journey into one’s own past and family history that goes hand in hand with the history of China itself and the wars that took place during the last century. Weina is sitting at a table with her grandfather. The latter smokes one cigarette after another. At first the two are practically strangers. The girl does not know what to ask him and what to start talking about. Then, slowly, everything changes. Both her maternal grandfather and paternal grandparents become slowly familiar figures and through their stories she also discovers her personal history, her origins, her own identity.
Working together with Weina Zhao: director Judith Benedikt, who has always had a particular interest in the East (and especially China) (see, for example, her documentary China reverse, made in 2014).
And so begins a long journey from one side of the Earth to the other. A tender and intimate journey, but often also a painful journey. A journey in which one talks about war, suffering, marriages, the condition of women, but also in which one shares tender moments during which one cooks together or simply waters plants. The two directors, for their part, have opted for the most simple and essential approach possible: Weina Zhao’s voice accompanies us throughout almost the entire film. The magic of cinema is revealed before our eyes when we see the director giving her grandmother directions on when to enter the house and what to say. Hands kneading dumplings, an entire family gathered around the table to cook, food being prepared with love and bringing everyone together. Just as oriental cinema has always shown us. And again, views of Shanghai and Beijing from above – cities that have suffered much over the years and where the consequences of war are still evident – but also the wide streets and parks of the Austrian capital. All this is Weiyena – Ein Heimatfilm. A pure, simple and sincere documentary that presents itself as a journey between two worlds and two cultures. A journey after which the protagonist immediately becomes more mature and more self-confident.
Original title: Weiyena – Ein Heimatfilm
Directed by: Weina Zhao, Judith Benedikt
Country/year: Austria / 2020
Running time: 96’
Genre: documentary
Screenplay: Weina Zhao
Cinematography: Judith Benedikt
Produced by: Langbein & Partner