Poster of A Land Behind
Last night I went to Suzhou to attend a special screening event. The film shown was A Land Behind (内沙), directed and written by Professor Geyi Yang from the School of Media and Communication at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. After the screening, there was a discussion between the director and the audience.
The story revolves around Mr. Tang and his assistant Xiao Yu, who are struggling to run an organic farm on a small island in the Yangtze River, facing many real-world challenges and an uncertain future.
As an independent art film, A Land Behind adopts a restrained narrative style: its pace is slow and deep, its cinematography quiet and understated, eschewing sentimental music and commercial dramatic tropes. Nonetheless, over the course of its two hours and four minutes, the film maintains a kind of narrative tension, completely immersing the audience. The farm’s uncertain fate runs like an undercurrent throughout the story, creating a sustained sense of suspense. One viewer shared during the post-screening discussion that she was surprised to realize she hadn’t checked her phone at all during the screening.
The film unfolds at an almost meditative pace, delicately portraying the daily life of farming. Within the repetitive and arduous labour, there is a silent yet resilient strength, evoking the ancient and profound spiritual bond between people and the land. This portrayal awakened in me a longing for the healing power of nature and a return to a simpler way of life.
The only part that left me feeling that an opportunity was missed was the film’s lack of a clear and thorough explanation of the deeper motivation behind Mr. Tang and Xiao Yu’s commitment to organic farming. Mr. Tang expresses a simple wish in the film: “I hope everyone — not just the wealthy — can eat organic food.” But why is organic food so important? This fundamental question is not explored in depth. The film tends to present organic farming more as a personal philosophy of harmonious living with nature rather than a rational choice based on scientific understanding.
In reality, organic agriculture carries tremendous value for sustainable development. It is not merely an idealized lifestyle, but one of the necessary conditions for the continued survival of human civilization. If we continue to ignore the environmental problems brought by modern agriculture, perhaps in the not-so-distant future, we will have to grow potatoes at home just to survive, and we may no longer have the opportunity to step into a cinema and experience an artwork like this.