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In honor of old Shanghai
Saturday, July 21, 2007

The simple but intimate lifestyle of residents in Shikumen dwellings has been documented in a touching film, writes Michelle Chan

In a shabby apartment on the second floor of a Shikumen house in Dazhong Li, downtown Shanghai, lived an old woman. Mrs Shu had made it her home in 1935, when her son was born.

She was 29 when she settled in her Shikumen flat, a signature style dwelling that blends early 20th-century Western and traditional Chinese architecture. At that time, these concrete urban accommodations housed nearly 80 percent of the city's population and were usually separated by straight alleys with an ornamented stone arch at the entrance.

For more than 70 years, Shu lived her life in the 36-square-meter flat, the home of three generations of her family. She was joined by her son, and in time, her grandson Shu Haolun. They lived there through the worst and best of times - from the turbulence of the Cultural Revolution through to economic boomtimes. They witnessed the demolition of the old and construction of a new Shanghai.

In 2002, when a property developer from Hong Kong acquired the whole area of Dazhong Li, the Shu family realized that they would have to consider moving - for the first time in 67 years.

When grandson Haolun learned that the home he grew up in was likely to be demolished, he decided to document the neighborhood on film. Haolun, who teaches at Shanghai University's School of Film and Television, Art and Technology, started his projec

t in 2002 and together with his production team of a co-director and several technicians and assistants, recorded the lifestyle of Dazhong Li's residents.

"The bond between neighbors is particularly close - many have known each other for decades. Their sense of community is so strong that they don't have to close their doors at night," Haolun explains.

The leading lady of Haolun's documentary is his grandmother and the ordinary way she lived her life: mahjong with neighbors and constant care of her house.

Part of Reel Asia (Asia Society Summer Film Series), the documentary titled Nostalgia is narrated by Haolun who was also cameraman and director. It's a highly personal narration in which he recalls fragments of his carefree childhood - hopping from rooftop to rooftop for fun and queueing for rice rations.

He wonders whether his memories will survive the demolition of these places that will surely be replaced by skyscrapers and questions why so many people prioritize the modern over traditions handed on for more than 100 years.

Today, Dazhong Li still exists and has not yet turned into a construction site. But Haolun worries the area will turn into another Xintiandi, where residents of the Shikumen houses were relocated to make way for coffee shops and high-end restaurants, vanishing one of the signature lifestyles of old Shanghai.

"Even though people have changed their way of living in Shanghai, many property developers consider only commercial gain and are destroying the old cultures," says Haolun, who earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in film production at Southern Illinois University.

"All these elderly people have lived so closely together for so long, they are like a family. Where could they happily move to?"

Although Mrs Shu passed away last year at the age of 91, her flat at Dazhong Li remains vacant.

Nostalgia will screen at Agnes b Cinema on July 26. Other highlights of the film program include: Crossing the Line (Jul 27 and 29), Manufactured Landscapes (Aug 2 and 4) and Beauty Academy of Kabul (Aug 3 and 5).

Reel Asia, Jul 26-Aug 5.

Agnes b Cinema, Hong Kong Arts Center, 2 Harbour Rd, Wan Chai.

HK$55 students, groups of 10 or more $35.

Book: 2734 9009