By tracking down Yu Bin, my grandfather, I rediscovered the history of China in the 20th century. Between hope and despair. I created a mix between my childhood imagination when I was fascinated by revolutionary China and a less heroic reality. I learnt what happened to young Chinese students in Europe through the 20s.
From the writer Malraux revealing what is “forbidden for dogs and the Chinese”, to clichés that are condemned by the young Chinese people of Europe, I shed light on a part of history that is little known in the West - the realisation and then the fight of the Chinese people to have their dignity respected.
This fight was the same one that Yu Bin fought, and I found traces of, in France or in Belgium. Through the numerous letters that he wrote to his son Georges, and through my line of enquiry, a unique story unfolds. One which goes through the upheavals of the years before WW2 and then through the history of China after its revolution in 1949. Intertwined with human history, the destiny of Yu Bin and his son, is an epic adventure that is moving, poetic, and sometimes even funny. Watch how I retraced their steps.

Runtime 105 min
Year of completion 2015
Language French
Subtitles English and Dutch

Production
Image Création

Co-production
Wallonia Image Production, RTBF, Wallonia-Brussels Federation Centre for the Cinematic and Audiovisual Arts. With the support of Fantine Films (les Films de Fantine), “Brouillon d’un rêve” of the SCAM, Liège Audiovisual Centre (CAV-Liège), the Liège Province (Culture), The National Lottery, Gilbert Letawe, Noël Faltas, Jacques Malpas, Jean-François Tefnin, Tous Corpod, The Belgium-China Association, Ciné-Archives, “Le Collectif ’50”, the Liège Confucius Institute, the Liége House of Secularism (Maison de la Laïcité de Liège), Athénée Royal – Liège 1.