Synopsis

In the 2009 film Love for Life, director Gu Changwei made a public call for people with HIV willing to participate in the film, and began shooting with six PWAs who either served as actors or crew members. Zao Liang’s Together documents this entire process, revealing an interesting and positive example of the relationship between fiction and non-fiction film. Among the six participants, only three reveal their faces and identities in the film: a boy who performed in the film, a woman who was the boy’s guardian, and a man who multitasked as an extra and lighting technician. The man, who was forced to leave the shoot due to a skin rash, explained how happy he was throughout the production and permitted the director to reveal his face in the hope that it would help the film bring forth a more accepting world. This man, who divorced his wife and went into seclusion at a temple after learning that he was infected, kept in touch with the world only through the internet and his virtual ID ‘Down and Out’. If it hadn’t been for this film’s focus on process, he would never have gathered the courage to reveal his face and identity. If the key spirit of Cinema Verite is the acknowledgment of truth through the process of shooting on camera, Together (and its alter ego Love for Life) can be considered the true descendent of Cinema Verite. (BYUN Seong-chan)

Director

• 

  ZHAO Liang
  

  Zhao Liang, born in 1971 in Dandong, Liaoning Province, China, is one of the key documentary filmmakers in China today, working in video, photography and film. His provocative (and often political) films have been shown at some of the top international festivals including Cannes International Film Festival and the Berlin Bienniale. Zhao studied at Luxun Academy of Fine Arts and Beijing Film Academy and currently lives in Beijing.
  
  Together (2010)
  Petition (2009)
  Crime and Punishment (2007)
  City Scene (2005)
  Return to the Border (2005)
  Paper Airplane (2001)

Credits

• Director, Cinematographer  ZHAO Liang
• Producer  GU Changwei
• Editor  SHUN Zi
• Music  DOU Peng
• Sound  GU Changning

Production Company

• Production Company  Hing Lung Worldwide Group Limted

Distribution / World Sales

• Distribution / World Sales  Edko Films Ltd.
• Address  1212, Tower 2, Admiralty Centre 18 Harcourt Road, Hong Kong
• Tel  852 2528 8046
• E-mail  info@edkofilm.com.hk