Starting from January 7, 2025, every Tuesday night, the six-episode documentary series "Above the Fields" will be broadcast simultaneously on Dragon TV, Southeast TV, Tencent Video and other platforms. This work is jointly produced by the Interpretation of China Studio, Tencent Video, Shanghai Radio and Television Station, Fujian Radio and Television Group, and Learning Press, opening a window for the audience to have an in-depth understanding of rural China.
"Above the Fields" poster
The documentary "Above the Fields" was created by Qin Bo Studio of Shanghai Radio and Television Station's Real Media over a period of three years. The crew drove 108,000 miles to visit nearly 100 villages in China. From the six perspectives of "agriculture, ecology, culture, industry, talents, and comprehensive development of people", it showed the new practices, new experiences, and new achievements in China's rural revitalization practice. Through in-depth field research, the director team conducted a nearly one-year village-based record, which truly recorded the stories of the people in China's rural revitalization, brought intuitive new era rural images, and presented the challenges and changes that China's rural areas are experiencing.
It is worth mentioning that the crew had carefully prepared a unique experimental exhibition under the landmark building "Oriental Pearl" in Shanghai. The videos and photos in the exhibition include long-term stories that took several months to record in depth with traditional documentary techniques, as well as fragments of ordinary people's daily life that the crew deeply intervened and captured with delicate "gaze" eyes.
These stories are like pearls of different sizes, connecting the core theme of the documentary. Each photo recording a rural story was carefully processed by the crew, printed and framed on the spot, and then given to the subject. This is not only a sincere thank-you gift, but also a high respect for those ordinary yet great people who work silently on the rural land.
The creative team said that "Above the Fields" is not just a documentary, it is more like a contemporary visual record of China's great journey of rural revitalization, leading the audience through the vast rural land, feeling the vigorous power of rural development, exploring the profound heritage of rural culture, and appreciating the spirit of struggle of rural people, allowing people to have a deeper and more comprehensive understanding and thinking of the current situation and future of China's rural areas.
On December 7, 2024, the international version of the documentary series "Above the Fields" was broadcast on the National Geographic Channel. The premiere covered a wide range of countries and regions in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, leading audiences from all over the world to cross borders, appreciate China's achievements in rural revitalization, gain a deeper understanding of the texture of Chinese villages, see the most authentic Chinese faces, and feel the unique charm of Chinese villages.
