I hold no illusions about China and its society as a logical and inevitable conclusion of communist ideology. But to have vague idea about the inhumanness of the Chinese régime and to confront it in a form of a documentary about an island resisting the endless storm, that's something completely different. It's a knockout blow even before the end titles. It's soul-crushing and exhilariating at the same time, a documentary from a catholic nun run orphanage. All its denizens, mentally and/or physically disabled people abandoned by their families, are given name Tien ("Heaven", in Czech "Nebe"). In contrast to state-run orphanages where children are left to rot alive, here you can sense the love and warmth of the replacement family. The contrast of dreary and barren Orwellian society of contemporary China and this little hideaway couldn't be starker. Unfortunately, if you weren't in tears during the documentary, the ending delivers the final blow: The orphanage is nationalized and the children are sent to the state-run hell-holes. The little piece is heaven is trampled over by the evil that haunts the country.
The documentary's author, Tomas Etzler, spent years in China as a journalist for CNN and Czech TV and recently published a book about his experience there.
The documentary's author, Tomas Etzler, spent years in China as a journalist for CNN and Czech TV and recently published a book about his experience there.
