Ms. Hu's Garden

“When I first visited ShiBaTi in 2010, it was a slum surrounded by modern commercial developments that seemed unusually peculiar. It felt like a distinct temporal space detached from the rapidly developing Chinese society. Various marginalized individuals call this place home, striving to find opportunities amidst urban challenges within the cracks of the city. With the upcoming commercialization of ShiBaTi, what will be their future? So, I started planning to make a film about this place. It wasn’t until 2012 that I was attracted to Ms. Hu’s garden, a garden constructed from discarded rubbish. This seemingly whimsical and fantastical garden serves as a spiritual space where she places her hopes for a better life. Ms. Hu is a former accountant who went bankrupt after securing loans for people. She has always carried a sense of guilt inside her. The garden is also like performance art for her to achieve self-redemption after having been defeated by commercial capital and logic. Through this film, I hope to depict the fate and spiritual condition of ordinary individuals due to the process of modernization and transformation in Chinese society.”