TIAN HEI HEI
An AFI Thesis Film
tiān hēi hēi
天 黑 黑
TIAN HEI HEI
Two young girls growing up in a Shanghainese gambling den, must protect each other and survive the violent world of petty gangsters by relying only on their wits.
SYNOPSIS
BINGJIE(8) and her best friend HUANHUAN(8) play a game of catching flies with a plastic cup at her father’s restaurant/gambling den. Their game is broken up when they are called into the gambling den to “save” Huanhuan‘s mother, who’s a regular gambler and scam artist here.
Huanhuan offers her mother an excuse to leave the table after she wins everyone’s money. However, the other gamblers at the table don‘t buy it and prohibit her from leaving the table. Huanhuan sees her mother slapped by another man, frightening her. Bingjie, seeing her friend’s fragility for the first time, rushes to protect her.
Bingjie rushes upstairs to find her father only to find him in the arms of another woman. With no adult support, Bingjie must act to prevent the gamblers from destroying her family and to protect her friend from being dragged into the violence.
Film Stills
Director's Statement
I spent much of my youth in gambling halls with my parents where I witnessed first-hand, the lives of gamblers, loan sharks, and gangsters. China was on the rise as millions of people moved from small towns into the outskirts of major cities where they survived in any way they could–through legal, and illegal means.
This was my “normal” growing up. And it wasn’t until I gained admission to better schools, schools outside of my neighborhood, that I realized that my classmates lived a very different life. Because of the disparity, I began to see myself as “lesser than” because I didn't spend my childhood in a comfortable, middle-class environment – learning painting or music theory – as the other kids did.
I learned how to operate in these two worlds–the more educated, “higher class” world of my schools, and the uneducated, “lower class” world at home. While I used to feel some sense of shame of where I came from, I now realize how my childhood played a crucial role in forming my inner strength. My experiences of survival amidst chaos made me more resilient and determined. Filmmaking has empowered me with the tools I need to to dig deeper into myself, to understand who I am and where I come from. This film is a part of my journey and I hope you will be a part of it.
--------- Jina Miao