RESTORING THE LIGHT
Price: $310.00 Code: 2439 |
Directed by Carol Liu
2011, 55 minutes
Purchase: $310 | Classroom rental: $125
Restoring the Light is an intimate portrait of a dedicated doctor and some of his patients in an isolated rural community in Ningxia, one of China's poorest regions. This heart-wrenching film documents the adversities and hopes of a population that has been left behind in the wake of China's dizzying economic boom.
China's new mantra, "You go through school, then you get a good job and you leave the rural areas" has created an unending flow of migrant workers streaming to prospering cities. But what happens to the faceless millions who stay behind and must struggle for basic survival and limited access to healthcare and education?
Restoring the Light follows ophthalmologist Dr. Zhang Xubinwho operates a non-profit mobile eye clinic for underprivileged rural patients as well as two families benefiting from the doctor's humanist mission. Despite a debilitating bone infection, a young woman from an illiterate farming family pursues her dream to attend university and become an artist. Her grandmother has lived in a cave dwelling for over sixty years and still toils in the field even though she has lost her vision to cataracts. Meanwhile a bright ten-year-old boy blinded by an improperly treated illness in infancy is isolated due to the lack of special education at his school. Dr. Zhang's mobile clinic brings a measure of peace to the families, but also forces reality into sharper focus.
As China rushes to become the next superpower, Restoring the Light reveals the human challenges behind the façade of a nation's rise.
* Official Selection, Beijing International Film Festival
* Official Selection, United Nations Association Film Festival
* Official Selection, Chicago Asian American Showcase
* 2013 Association for Asian Studies Film Expo
" Restoring the Light provides many starting points for discussion of health care deficiencies, and not just in China but also in comparable undeveloped areas in many other regions of the world. Highly recommended for all public, academic, and high school audiences.” -Charles J. Greenberg, Cushing/Whitney Medical Library, Yale University, Educational Media Reviews Online
"An illuminating portrait of Chinese provincial life. Recommended ." - Video Librarian
"A groundbreaking documentary exposing the overwhelming struggles of modern China not covered by the media. Every American must see this film!"
-Malcolm R. Ing, MD, Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology & Chair of the Division of Ophthalmology, John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii
2011, 55 minutes
Purchase: $310 | Classroom rental: $125
Restoring the Light is an intimate portrait of a dedicated doctor and some of his patients in an isolated rural community in Ningxia, one of China's poorest regions. This heart-wrenching film documents the adversities and hopes of a population that has been left behind in the wake of China's dizzying economic boom.
China's new mantra, "You go through school, then you get a good job and you leave the rural areas" has created an unending flow of migrant workers streaming to prospering cities. But what happens to the faceless millions who stay behind and must struggle for basic survival and limited access to healthcare and education?
Restoring the Light follows ophthalmologist Dr. Zhang Xubinwho operates a non-profit mobile eye clinic for underprivileged rural patients as well as two families benefiting from the doctor's humanist mission. Despite a debilitating bone infection, a young woman from an illiterate farming family pursues her dream to attend university and become an artist. Her grandmother has lived in a cave dwelling for over sixty years and still toils in the field even though she has lost her vision to cataracts. Meanwhile a bright ten-year-old boy blinded by an improperly treated illness in infancy is isolated due to the lack of special education at his school. Dr. Zhang's mobile clinic brings a measure of peace to the families, but also forces reality into sharper focus.
As China rushes to become the next superpower, Restoring the Light reveals the human challenges behind the façade of a nation's rise.
Subjects & Collections
Anthropology Asian Studies Disabilities Health Economics Cultural Studies Children & Young Adult 2013 Medicine Directed by Women
Festivals & Awards
* Official Selection, Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival* Official Selection, Beijing International Film Festival
* Official Selection, United Nations Association Film Festival
* Official Selection, Chicago Asian American Showcase
* 2013 Association for Asian Studies Film Expo
Reviews
" Restoring the Light provides many starting points for discussion of health care deficiencies, and not just in China but also in comparable undeveloped areas in many other regions of the world. Highly recommended for all public, academic, and high school audiences.” -Charles J. Greenberg, Cushing/Whitney Medical Library, Yale University, Educational Media Reviews Online
"An illuminating portrait of Chinese provincial life. Recommended ." - Video Librarian
"A groundbreaking documentary exposing the overwhelming struggles of modern China not covered by the media. Every American must see this film!"
-Malcolm R. Ing, MD, Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology & Chair of the Division of Ophthalmology, John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii