South of the Clouds

Few of us have stopped to consider the lives of the workers who manufacture the objects that make up our daily lives. We use these objects without knowing anything about the Foxconn plants in which they are made, or even where these factories are located, let alone who works in them. One such worker was the young Chinese poet Xu Lizhi, who, at the age of 24, jumped out of a building not far from where he worked at the Foxconn factory in Shenzhen.

When the last factory in a small Rust Belt town closes its doors, an unlikely hero emerges in dutiful, quiet Allery Parkes. A career employee of the factory, the aging Allery can't reconcile how to live a life simply sitting at home doing nothing. Against the advice and pleas of his loving wife Iola, he forms an unlikely friendship with his charismatic neighbor Walter Brewer in order to revive the defunct factory.

When British aid worker Hana returns to Luxor, a sleepy city on the banks of the Nile, she comes across Sultan, a talented archeologist and former lover. As she wanders, haunted by the familiar place, she struggles to reconcile the choices of the past with the uncertainty of the present.

Legendary tomb explorer Hu Bayi is on a dangerous mission as he seeks out the Tomb of Emperor Xian, located on an island of monstrous creatures in this mystical action-adventure.

The film follows a peasant couple, Zhao Deshan and his wife Xiuzhi, living in rural Yunnan province near Zhaotong in southern China. Their lives are thrown into upheaval when the local mayor “rewards” them with two foreign sheep donated by a former villager, now an official in Beijing. The couple is then tasked with breeding the sheep for their wool and to bring prosperity to their small community. Much to their chagrin, the sheep do not take to their new environment and the couple are forced into ever more ingenious ways of making the sheep appear greater than they really are. As they do so, they also come to value the sheep as companions in their family. When it becomes clear that the two “great” sheep are not the boon they were thought to be, the local authorities repossess the animals.

Pedro returns home to a small mountain village in Guerrero, Mexico after years of working in the US. He finds his daughters older, and more distant than he imagined. His wife still has the same smile. Having saved some earnings from two trips to the US, he hopes to now finally make a better life with his family, and even to pursue his dreams on the side by starting a band: Copa Kings. He cherishes the everyday moments with his family. The villagers think this year's crop will be bountiful. There is also good work in a growing city an hour away. But the locals are wise to a life of insecurity, and their thoughts are often of family members or opportunities far away, north of the border. While working in the fields, Pedro meets and begins to mentor a teenager who dreams of the US. That place somehow always feels very present, practically knocking at the door. "Aquí y Allá" is a story about hope, and the memories and loss of what we leave behind.

A remote village in southwest China is haunted by traces of its cultural past while its residents piece together their existence. Zhiziluo is a town barely clinging to life. Tucked away in a rugged corner of Yunnan Province, Lisu and Nu minority villagers squat in the abandoned halls of this remote former Community county seat. Divided into three parts, this epic documentary takes an intimate look at its varied cast of characters, bringing audiences face to face with people left behind by China's new economy. A father-son duo of elderly preachers argue over the future of their village church. Two young lovers face a break-up over harsh financial realities. A twelve year-old boy, abandoned by his family, scavenges the hillside to feed himself.

In World War II, an American Air Force pilot of the Flying Tigers was flying over Yunnan province of southern China on a special mission, carrying vital information. He was shot down and captured by Japanese invasion forces. A small rescue party of American GIs teamed up with resistance guerrilla fighters in the minority tribes of the south. The GIs and local guerrilla together conducted an International Rescue of the pilot and his information vital to the war effort.

20-year-old Jing Hao came to Shenzhen to live with his young sister alone. The siblings live a warm yet straitened life. In an effort to pay for his sister's expensive surgery, Jing Hao gets an opportunity by chance, thinking that a better life is coming, but unexpectedly encounters a serious setback. Under the pressure of both time and money, Jing Hao, who has no way out, decides to take a desperate gamble. Can this ignite the spark of hope for his troubled ordinary life?

Documentary series made in China in the early 90s. Agland was an anthropologist and he’d already made a wonderful series in the 80s about the Baka tribe in Cameroon. For Beyond the Clouds, he spent several years in a small town in Yunnan province telling the stories of various characters he met. He focuses on normal people but in doing so tells us about China’s past as well as its present and the monumental change that was coming.

A chain-wallah from Delhi travels across India in search of his missing son, in the hopes that whoever took him, returns him unharmed.

Based on a true story, this film follows a 7-year-old boy, Wawa, and his older sister, Naxiang, who live beside the Nujiang River in Yunnan Province, China. Every day, Naxiang crosses the river to attend school using an overhead cable, but their mother will not allow Wawa to use the cable. Eventually, Wawa secretly uses the cable to cross to the other side. The dangerous activity has deadly consequences, and the siblings’ lives are changed forever.

Set in early 20th century. Yuan Shih-kai is forced by Japan to sign on the twenty-one demands and transfers the possession of Shandong province to Japan from German. General Cai of Yunnan province decides to uprise and lead a punitive expedition against Yuan. A famous courtesan Xiao Feng Xian admires Cai's prestige and is arrested for covering Cai before uprising.

Old Pop, a retired factory worker, lives in a former industrial area of Beijing with his extended family. He likes going to the market with his old colleague, Lao Chang. One day, he recognizes a face he had been unable to forget: his first love, Li Ying. An elegant old woman, Li Ying seems to have trouble remembering people, and her daughter is openly hostile to Old Pop. Despite these obstacles, the two elders start meeting in secret. Discovering that Li Ying has Alzheimer, Old Pop plays little games with her to exercise her mind. As in his award-winning first films, Liu Hao uses non-professional actors to recount an unusual love affair with a poetic and humorous touch.

In post-industrial Ohio, a Chinese billionaire opens a new factory in the husk of an abandoned General Motors plant, hiring two thousand blue-collar Americans. Early days of hope and optimism give way to setbacks as high-tech China clashes with working-class America.

How much do you know about the person working next to you? From the outside, life at Mackintosh Textiles appears to run smoothly, but in a community with so many secrets to hide, things are far from straightforward. In six powerful, self-contained dramas, everyday life is fractured by tumultuous marriages, snatched passions, disappearing husbands and gang harassment.

After 40 years, Sir Terry Wogan returns to Ireland, stepping back into his past to explore how the country helped shape him, and looking at what it means to be Irish in the 21st century.

In new six-part series Untamed China, wildlife adventurer Nigel Marven explores the country's mountains and grasslands, crosses its greatest deserts and treks through its deepest jungles in search of the rare, little-known and extraordinary creatures that live there. Over half of China's plant and animal species live in Yunnan Province in the far southwest of the country. In episode one, Nigel goes there to explore the ancient city of Dali and the surrounding mountains and forests. He meets some bizarre and deadly reptiles and amphibians, goes on a very unusual fishing trip, enjoys the fairy-tale lifecycle of butterflies and gets up close to highly endangered Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys.

A culinary journey across twelve regions, each with their own unique cultures, culinary stories and traditions. Celebrated chef, Luke Nguyen, in the third instalment of his popular series, takes us on a culinary journey across the Greater Mekong region of southeast Asia. Beginning in southwest China, Luke explores the culinary cultures and centuries old traditions of Yunnan Province, from the Naxi people of Lijiang to the Dai communities of Xishuangbana.

Riley worked in an aircraft plant in California, but viewers usually saw him at home, cheerfully disrupting life with his malapropisms and ill timed intervention into minor problems.

To protect the woman he loves, a white collar worker unintentionally becomes involved in a murder case and is from then on a suspect. In the blink of an eye, his quiet and boring life gets completely shaken up as he suddenly is both being chased by the police as well as gangsters.

David Ortiz, the one and only Big Papi, has jacked his last mammoth home run into the Fenway stands. He retired after the 2016 season as one of the most decorated and best-loved players in Red Sox history. Of course, if you know anything about Big Papi, you know the man isn't about to rest on his laurels. He's already going out of his mind—and he's driving his family nuts too! They all agree on one thing—this man was not built for a retirement made up of "puttering" around the house. He needs to find himself some gainful employment—and fast! Watch Big Papi as he seeks out new jobs and opportunities with hilarious and surprising results.

A group of modern women are going back in time to the 60s, 70s and 80s to work and live through three decades of British factory life and learn how an unsung army of female workers took on the fight for equality at work and at home - how will these 21st-century women adapt to a period of rampant sexism, huge gender pay gaps and tough working conditions?

Campus couple and budding young designers Yi En and Qi Lei decide to set up a fashion label together when they finish university. Despite some early success, the couple’s partnership appears to have been cut tragically short, when the scheming of a ruthless rival appears to cause the death of Qi Lei. The grieving Yi En refuses to give up on the dream she once shared with her sweetheart, and – though her talent, hard work, and dedication – eventually succeeds in building up a powerful fashion company. What Yi En does not know, however, is that Qi Lei is not dead after all. The “accident” that appeared to have taken his life actually only left him badly wounded. Once he recovers, he takes up the moniker Lu Zhun and returns to the fashion world, looking for answers and revenge. He is appointed as the head of a successful fashion company – and finds himself in direct competition with his former girlfriend and business partner Yi En.

Adapted from the 3rd volume in the novel series "Candle in the Tomb" (鬼吹灯) by Zhang Mu Ye (天下霸唱).

"On Patrol: Live" follows police officers and sheriff's deputies from diverse agencies in different cities across the country for three hours. Program hosts Dan Abrams, retired Tulsa Police Department Sgt. Sean "Sticks" Larkin and Deputy Sheriff Curtis Wilson provide minute-by-minute perspective and analysis from a central studio location during footage. Local residents from the communities of featured departments are given the opportunity to have a firsthand experience during ride-alongs with officers on live nights.

A pair of post-90s besties have chosen very different paths in life. Upon graduation, one stayed in Shanghai to focus on her career while the other returned to their hometown to get married. In recent years, they encounter unprecedented difficulties. For many years, Yuan Ge has been married to her job and hasn't bothered investing in relationships.

Xu Tian was a 21-years-old young man. He carried on the revolutionary predecessors' belief, and to fulfill their entrustment, he went all the way from southeast Asia to Shanghai to deliver the materials to the Communist International. In this arduous journey, he went through hardships and setbacks with Sun, Yu Yixiu, Zhang Jiayi, and many others. Finally, he managed to finish the task. The smiles on their faces reflected their firm belief and their hopes for a bright future.

27-year-old girl Zhong Xiao Xiao has been living an ordinary and busy life. At the class reunion, she wanted to give the DV recording youth to Xu Yang, her crush, but the moment the DV was turned on, she returned to the age of 17. Zhong Xiao Xiao's crush, Xu Yang, was a high-cold academic bully when he was a student, and he often exuded a cold temperament that refused to be thousands of miles away. The thing that makes Zhong Xiao Xiao collapse even more than returning to the age of 17 is that her time often jumps suddenly. After many experiments, she found out that it turns out that only when she stays in a certain range around Xu Yang can she have a normal time flow, so she also discovered Xu Yang's unknown side. By coincidence, Xu Yang moved into Zhong Xiao Xiao's home. As the two got closer to each other, many ironic stories happened...

Lei Ming, a former lecturer, and Sang Xia, a psychology teacher, runs a special class to help under-performing students. They guide students like Li Ran, who plans to drop out due to his grandmother’s illness, to overcome challenges and aim for university. Their combined efforts help students realize their potential and prepare for the next phase of their lives.