中國雲南

In deep Hengduan Mountain Range, western Yunnan of China, there hides a special village which is not known by people outside. All the villagers inhabited here are children between 6 and 14. They live in the village all year round to complete their six-year study in a primary school.

It’s a place called “Tian Deng” in the middle of Hengduan Mountain. Because of the high mountains, deep valleys and rugged mountainous roads, and there only stands this school in the 160 square meter area, children at the school from Bai and Lisu ethnic minorities can not go to school and back home everyday. Therefore, the parents construct small wooden rooms for their children in front of the school so that the children can stay and cook.

The film depicts a truly touching story and honestly records the eager and desire of knowledge of the mountain people in remote areas in China.

A long, long time ago, the ancestors of the Hani (Akkha) and other people lived together in the same valley. Much later, as the population grew, they fought over land,
and the Hani fled to another valley far away. After hundreds of years, war plagued the new valley, and some people fled to where a valley meets the mountains to live by farming. They built terrace after terrace on the hills and a Hani village emerged in the new valley. Although after this terrace is built, more rice can be grown, this will not solve the problem of lack of grain. The terraces already go all the way to the top of the hills. There’s simple no land left to build more, and people have to work outside. Ahlu and his brothers work outside the village, and they are searching their dreams of a better life. Due to the lack of knowledge and skills, as most minorities do, they can hardly face the challenges and hardships in such a sophisticated society.