Trail from Xinjiang

Cathayplay: An online streaming platform dedicated to showcasing Sinophone independent films
A market-and-hit-driven film industry has been formed across the globe. As a result, there is less room to survive for independent films that grapple with tough social issues and reflect the fast-changing society from different perspectives. Despite the boom of Chinese films in recent years, Chinese independent filmmakers lack opportunities to present their works to a global audience under the restrictive environment.

Cathayplay is an online streaming platform dedicated to showcasing Sinophone independent films. It inspires to promote Chinese independent films through the streaming platform, advocating the spirit of independence, respecting the director-centered filmmaking style, breaking free of the mainstream film industry, and discovering more films merging arthouse style with social commentaries. Cathayplay was first launched in the beginning of 2019 and the platform’s slogan is: WATCH DIFFERENT. Cathayplay is making three short independent documentaries available produced by Chinese women filmmakers.

Film description
Trail from Xinjiang
Director: Chen Dongnan
Length of film: 36 minutes

Many from Xinjiang, China’s Uyghur autonomous region founded in 1955, are all bounded to one collective identity notoriously known as ‘Xinjiang thieves’. Following Musa, Ali and Little Musa, who left their hometown Xinjiang as little children, The Trail From Xinjiang documents the faces and stories behind the crime.

Screening sponsored by: Cathayplay. For more information on the streaming platform, visit the Cathayplay booth at the Exhibition Book Fair in the ASEEC Tower on Campus B, Airlangga University.