Documentary filmmaker Wu Wenguang is widely considered a pioneer of modern Chinese independent film.

He launched The Memory Project with the aim to collect oral histories from survivors of the Great Famine, which devastated rural China between 1958 to 1961. Home to this immense project is Caochangdi Workstation, Wu’s studio in suburban Beijing.

Over 150 young filmmakers have participated, visiting 246 villages in 20 provinces, and interviewing more than 1100 elderly villagers. Personal accounts and fading memories of the Cultural Revolution, the Great Leap Forward, and the Four Cleanups Movement are preserved – ensuring that these stories are not forgotten.