2018 Digital Storytelling Contest, Long Form, 1st prize

Down from the Mountains

Production

Max Duncan

At 14, Wang Ying wants to be a child. But she has to take care of her younger brother and sister and do farm work while also trying to keep up at school. The siblings from the Yi ethnic group live in the remote mountains of southwest China. Their parents left to work in a factory over 1,000 miles away to give them a better future.

The movement of economic migrants to urban areas has left nine million children like them behind in the Chinese countryside.

Down from the Mountains explores the dilemma faced by many migrant parents forced to chose between providing for their children emotionally or economically. The film was made with the support of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

Production team

    Director/cinematographer/editor: Max Duncan
    Executive producer: Susan Jakes
    Executive producer: Muyi Xiao
    Translator/producer: Motsi Ithlop
    Music: Kristin McClement
    Music: Daniel Harding