Journey to the Cossacks

Dir: Peter Yung
Scrs: Peter Yung, Xu Xiaoxing
Prod: Peter Yung
Prod Co.: Associates (Asia) Film
Cast: Antonio Ho, Yau Wai, Li Tang, Liu Xiaokun
1989 | Colour | D Beta | Mandarin | 81min

While preparing for The Rickshaw Boy in 1980, Peter Yung went to Xinjiang Province to take photos and collect stories among the grassroots. The trip eventually inspired him to make a docudrama about the region. Raising the funds on his own and working with local Chinese authorities, Yung told the story of an archaeologist (Antonio Ho) who receives permission to excavate an old battlefield in Xinjiang. Drowned in work, the archaeologist initially carried a rocky relationship with the locals. However, the tribal chief’s daughter eventually opens his eyes and helps him appreciate the wonders of the local traditional culture. Dissatisfied with the original 1982 cut, Yung eventually re-edited the film by excising the romance and added new footage of local traditions held by the Uyghur people and breathtaking shots of the Xinjiang desert. In 1989, the revised version of the film was released under a new Chinese title. That is the version being screened for this retrospective.

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