The Puppetmaster
Directed by Chen Jiacao
Location: Zhanjiang, Guangdong
Director's Notes:

Many authors have said that one's hometown is a blood-soaked land. I didn't understand this until I had seen much of the world after leaving Zhanjiang, where I had never left till I turned 18. Growing up by the banks of the Nandu River, I believed that the world was no larger than the villages it flowed through. However, as I grew older and pursued my education and career, I traveled to many different places and met people from all walks of life. It was only then that I realized that the world was much larger than I had ever imagined. Despite this, I also came to understand that the small village of Dachen and the meandering Nandu River still held a special place in my heart.

This is the first time I have chosen my hometown's traditional opera as the subject for filming. I often reminisce about the nights of my childhood when my family and I would rush with flashlights to watch the opera performances. Many life lessons and values were imparted on the stage. In my early years, the elders in the village would always tell the younger generation to "study hard and not fear the current hardships". They believed that even beggars could become scholars on the stage. "Becoming a scholar" seemed to represent the simple aspirations for a better future in that barren land, generation after generation. But as time passes, we find ourselves standing in the future we once yearned for. The distant horizons that filled our young dreams have turned into fleeting moments. Looking back, have we become the "tops" of our youth?

Generation after generation, people venture to distant lands. Yet, when their whereabouts are mentioned or their return is questioned, their footsteps have already wandered through mountains and seas. But the faint accent of their hometown will blow into their dreams every night.

《中状元》The Puppetmaster
陈家操 导演作品
【拍摄地】广东湛江

【导演手记】

很多作家都说故乡是一片血地，从前看到这句话时我并不能理解。在我18岁之前，我从未离开过湛江。童年生活在南渡河畔时，我认定了世界就是这条河流所经过的村庄那么大。成年以后，我在求学和工作的推动下去了很多地方。见了很多人与很多风景后，恍惚之间回头一看，才发现世界其实也还是那么大，它只是一个小小的“大陈村”、一条蜿蜒流淌的“南渡河”。

这是我第一次以家乡的戏曲为拍摄题材，我时常怀念小时候夜里跟家人打着手电筒赶去看戏的日子，很多人生的道理、价值的对错都是戏台给的。幼年时，村里的长辈们都会对下一代说过一句“要好好读书，眼前的艰苦并不可怕，戏台上说乞丐都能养出状元”。“中状元”似乎是那片贫瘠的土地上，一代又一代人们对未来美好的淳朴向往。而当时光流转，我们就站在曾经的未来里，少年所憧憬的远方都化作客子的光阴。回头去看，我们有成为年少的“状元”吗？

一代又一代的人奔赴远方，只是这奔赴远方的人，每当被人提起来处、问起归期，行经山海，只怕这一缕乡音，将夜夜吹进梦来。