Chinese Movies

The Great Learning (2021)

Genre: Documentary

Directors: Sun Hong,Wang Jing,Ke Yongquan

Four students at Tsinghua University are facing new challenges in life.As part of the first generation of university students born in the 21st century,Yan Yunzhou is trying to adapt to the challenges of college life.Ph.D.graduate Song Yuntian decides to return to his hometown to work as a primary-level government worker.Cai Zheng,a young teacher after traveling abroad,returns to teach at Tsinghua,dedicating his life to astronomical research.A retired professor Qian Yi has also dedicated her life to cultivating students to meet the challenges of China’s future.Zooming in on each story,the documentary film portrays the ideals of each of the four people and the fountain of eternal youth that belongs to the university which provided them with a platform to pursue their potential.

Tsinghua is one of China’s most prestigious universities.The film documents various scenes of study,work,and leisure time in the lives of the four people,reflecting the spirit of pursuing truth that a real university possesses.Each of them is chasing after his/her own dream on the campus,where the school has always supported students to achieve and surpass themselves.The film shows the charm of the university — a school that provides people with a degree and also affects them for life.

One Day When We Were Young (2021)

Genre: Documentary

Director: Xu Bei

National Southwest Associated University (also known as Lianda) is a comprehensive university that was formed by the merging of three universities relocated to south China’s Yunnan Province during World War II.The school pooled together the academic strengths of Peking University,Tsinghua University,and Nankai University,and was honored as the “Mount Qomolangma in the history of Chinese educa-tion.” The film records 16 experts and scholars in their 90s who studied at Lianda,showcasing their stories of learning to serve the country at that time.

Despite the fact that Lianda only existed for eight years,it has influenced China’s development in the fields of education,science and technology,literature,and arts for more than 80 years.It cultivated two Nobel Prize winners and five winners of China’s top science awards.The film records the experience of 16 people who studied at that school and then follows up on their lives to see what impact the school had on their life pursuits of patriotism,science,democracy and self-improvement.It displays the soul of Lianda and the Chinese nation as a whole through the collision of ideas across the times.