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Thread: Dragon Girls

  1. #1
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    Dragon Girls

    I could've sworn there was a thread on this already...

    6:52 PM PDT 5/3/2013 by Etan Vlessing
    The Canadian fest also gave a special jury prize to "Cloudy Mountains" by Chinese director Zhu Yu.

    TORONTO – The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival on Friday gave its best international feature documentary jury prize to Inigo Westmeier’s Dragon Girls, a German film about young female warriors-in-training at a school and the birthplace of kung fu outside Beijing.

    The ARTE doc had its North American premiere in Toronto after debuting at IDFA in Amsterdam as it shows the sacrifice and discipline of the young students.

    And the Chinese documentary Cloudy Mountains by director Zhu Yu received a special jury prize in Toronto for a portrait of a son and his father who work amid toxic clouds during asbestos mining season in western China.

    Also Friday, the best Canadian feature documentary award went to Jason DaSilva’s When I Walk, about a young filmmaker fighting to live his dreams while struggling with multiple sclerosis.

    And a special jury prize in the Canadian feature documentary category was given to the National Film Board of Canada film Alphee of the Stars, by director Hugo Latulippe.

    The Quebec film earlier took the audience awards at the Swiss documentary film festival Visions du Réel, the Cinoche festival in Baie-Comeau, Quebec, and the grand jury prize at the Gaspé documentary film festival Vues sur mer.

    And the Hot Docs’ documentary films emerging artist award was given to director Lotfy Nathan for the U.S. film 12 O’Clock Boys, about a young boy seeking to join a urban dirt-bike gang in Baltimore.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  2. #2
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    I would love to see this

    DRAGON GIRLS (Drachenmädchen) - TRAILER

    Dragon Girls: Martial arts students face more than physical struggles
    Philip Brown
    The Globe and Mail
    Published Friday, Jul. 19 2013, 12:00 AM EDT
    Last updated Friday, Jul. 19 2013, 10:48 AM EDT

    Directed by Inigo Westmeier
    Genre documentary
    Year 2013
    Country Germany
    Language Mandarin


    With over 20,000 students, the Shaolin Tagu Kung Fu school is a massive and overwhelming structure. Dragon Girls follows three girls at various stages in the school.

    The opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games have nothing on the introductory sequences of the documentary Dragon Girls, which unfurl the remarkable – and slightly terrifying – spectacle of thousands of track-suit clad youths running through some synchronized kung fu moves.

    That’s business as usual at the Shaolin Tagou school in Henan province, China, an internationally acclaimed institution that’s a proving ground for wannabe martial artists. Having given us a vivid sense of the school’s scale and daily operations, German director Inigo Westmeier wisely zooms in on three female students, each of whom is struggling to stay on the warrior’s path.

    Based on the evidence here, the physical rigours of such a bone-crunching education are actually secondary to the emotional toll of homesickness and self-doubt.

    In terms of its style and structure, Dragon Girls is completely conventional, but its stubborn, earnestly striving subjects and the sprawling grounds of the school itself have definite star qualities.
    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

  3. #3
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    Dragon Girls Doco/Shaolin

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmQJ...layer_embedded

    Anyone seen this yet?

    Just came across it

    Of the 20,000 pupils at the illustrious Shaolin Tagu Kung Fu School (located next to the famous Shaolin Temple, the birthplace of kung fu), director Inigo Westmeier focuses in tight on three girls at various stages of their education. Through these young children we are drawn into a world of extreme training, personal discipline and an ever-present pressure to succeed. Far away from home, their vulnerability is palpable and the determination to overcome hardship and achieve perfection inspiring.

    Winner of the Best International Feature Documentary at this year's Hot Docs Festival in Toronto, Dragon Girls is both intimately affecting and visually breathtaking: when Westmeir's camera captures all 20,000 students practicing en masse, in perfect unison, it's nothing short of jaw-dropping.

  4. #4
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    I've posted this in three places now.

    Gene Ching
    Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
    Author of Shaolin Trips
    Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart

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