022397BLUFF 001 Collection Campaign Film was shot in designer 022397’s hometown: Guizhou, China. It is set in two locations of the Guizhou province, Kaili and Guiyang, constructing two parallel spaces between the city and the mountains.
Kaili City is located in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, a multiethnic city dominated by the Miao minority, and retains many primitive ethnic villages and tribes. Meanwhile, Guiyang, the capital city which serves as the political and economic centre of the Guizhou province, symbolises the modernisation the minority group must succumb to in one way or another.
We invited Joyce NG to write and direct this film. Joyce NG developed a keen interest in the ancient Miao culture and wrote this story interspersed in the city and the mountains. The inspiration of this story comes from the daily traditions of the ancient minority, as well as the changes that come naturally in the 21st century. She questions the labelling of “minority” and the definition of the opposing “majority” in a nation so vast and diverse in geography and culture.
The characters of the 022397BLUFF 001 collection Campaign Film are a full cast of non-professional talents in Guizhou. Amongst them, we have the honour of starring «Mountain and Flowing Water» professional performers, single-bamboo pole rafting artist Yang Liu.
A rare performance by the Di Opera Artists is also captured in the film. Last but not least, as the inheritors of China’s national intangible cultural heritage, the embroiderers of our clothes and footwear also appear in the film. They left behind stitches on our garments to unfold the old stories and myths. And of course, we could not forget the ducklings kindly lent by the locals.
