My Country, My Parents

To celebrate China’s National Day, this four-part anthology highlights work by some of the country’s most talented directors. With settings ranging from the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1942 to the futuristic world of 2050, each director utilizes a different genre to present their own unique ideas of “home” and “country” while simultaneously paying homage to the dedication and sacrifice of those who have come before. In Wu Jing’s “Windriders,” the commander of the Jizhong Cavalry Regiment, Ma Ren Xing (Wu Jing) must lead his unit into a brutal World War II battle, including his son, Ma Cheng Feng (Leo Wu). Moving away from battle and into a much more peaceful setting, Zhang Zi Yi’s “Poem” takes us to the 1960s, where hard-won technological breakthroughs change one family’s lives forever. Set in the late 1970s, Xu Zheng’s “Ad Man” is based on the true story of China’s first television advertisement. To wrap up the anthology, Shen Teng’s “Go Youth” tells the story of an emotionless bionic robot whose time traveling antics portray a bright hope for the future. The third installment of the “National Day Celebration” trilogy, “My Country, My Parents” is a 2021 Chinese anthology drama film directed by Wu Jing, Zhang Zi Yi, Xu Zheng, and Shen Teng.