Up the Yangtze

Cultural and Economic Changes in China

In China, it is simply known as "The River." But the Yangtze--and all of the life that surrounds it--is undergoing a truly astonishing transformation wrought by the largest hydroelectric project in history, the Three Gorges Dam.

Canadian documentary filmmaker Yung Chang returns to the gorgeous, now-disappearing landscape of his grandfather's youth to trace the surreal life of a "farewell cruise" that traverses the gargantuan waterway. Singularly moving and cinematically breathtaking, UP THE YANGTZE gives a human dimension to the wrenching changes facing not only an increasingly globalized China, but the world at large.

Official Selection at the Sundance Film Festival.

"An astonishing documentary of culture clash and the erasure of history amid China's economic miracle." - Stephen Holden, The New York Times