Podcast Interview with Jiang Nengjie

In this episode, Jiang Nengjie shares his perspective on filmmaking as a storytelling tool and a powerful resource to build understanding. He also digs into the experience of the children left behind in rural China and the factors driving change in this fast-changing country. He speaks eloquently about how his own emotions and need to tell the stories he sees drives him on in the search to see better.

Jiang Nengjie is a Chinese filmmaker whose work includes four documentaries about the millions of children left-behind in villages by their parents seeking employment in China’s sprawling cities. When he was a child, Jiang Nengjie’s parents left him behind in their Hunan village when they went to find work in Guangdong province. Unaccustomed to the fast pace of city life, Jiang, 32, lives in his home town and splits his time between making films and taking care of three village libraries he established in the county for left-behind children. His documentaries include frank and revealing aspects of life in China.

Interviewers: Yezi Yang, PhD student in Geosciences; Kim Felix, PhD student in Planning, Governance, and Globalization; Neda Moayerian: Postdoctoral research associate at Virginia Tech Institute for Policy and Governance and Center for Economic and Community Engagement

In our interview with Jiang Nengjie, since he is more comfortable speaking in Mandarin, Yezi Yang will serve as our interpreter.