On a Tightrope
Encyclopedia
On a Tightrope is an award-winning documentary film
by Petr Lom, co-produced by Piraya Film
and Lom Films, in cooperation with the Rafto Foundation for Human Rights
.
The film revolves around four children living in an orphanage
in Xinjiang
province, China
. The children are Uyghurs
, members of China
's largest Muslim
minority. Their dream is to become tightrope walkers, an ancient Uyghur tradition.
The children start learning to tightrope walk, but within a few months, they are judged inadequate by their coach. Now some of their dreams change: one wants to become a teacher
, another a professional singer. One of them however, feels he is simply too small to be good at anything. Eventually, even the one judged most talented at tightrope walking, and the one who dreams of a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for tightrope walking, is let go by the unscrupulous coach who seems only interested in money.
One year later, a different coach comes to the orphanage. Through love and kindness, he turns the children's initial failure at tightrope walking into success. The film culminates with their performance on a high wire - without a safety net - in front of their entire home town.
Tightrope walking is in this movie a metaphor
for how the Uyghurs try to balance between their Muslim faith and living in a communist state
, where they are severely restricted in practicing their religion
. This is the first film to ever document Chinese policy on religion in Xinjiang.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
by Petr Lom, co-produced by Piraya Film
Piraya film
Piraya Film is an independent production company based in Stavanger, Norway. The company was founded in 1999 by filmmakers Torstein Grude and Trond Kvist with the aim of making creative high end documentaries for release in the market worldwide....
and Lom Films, in cooperation with the Rafto Foundation for Human Rights
Rafto Foundation for Human Rights
The Rafto Foundation for Human Rights was established in 1986 in a memory of , a professor of Economic History at the Norwegian School of Economics and a human rights activist. The main objective of the is the promotion of freedom of political expression and enterprise...
.
The film revolves around four children living in an orphanage
Orphanage
An orphanage is a residential institution devoted to the care of orphans – children whose parents are deceased or otherwise unable or unwilling to care for them...
in Xinjiang
Xinjiang
Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2...
province, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. The children are Uyghurs
Uyghur people
The Uyghur are a Turkic ethnic group living in Eastern and Central Asia. Today, Uyghurs live primarily in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China...
, members of China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
's largest Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
minority. Their dream is to become tightrope walkers, an ancient Uyghur tradition.
The children start learning to tightrope walk, but within a few months, they are judged inadequate by their coach. Now some of their dreams change: one wants to become a teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
, another a professional singer. One of them however, feels he is simply too small to be good at anything. Eventually, even the one judged most talented at tightrope walking, and the one who dreams of a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for tightrope walking, is let go by the unscrupulous coach who seems only interested in money.
One year later, a different coach comes to the orphanage. Through love and kindness, he turns the children's initial failure at tightrope walking into success. The film culminates with their performance on a high wire - without a safety net - in front of their entire home town.
Tightrope walking is in this movie a metaphor
Metaphor
A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...
for how the Uyghurs try to balance between their Muslim faith and living in a communist state
Communist state
A communist state is a state with a form of government characterized by single-party rule or dominant-party rule of a communist party and a professed allegiance to a Leninist or Marxist-Leninist communist ideology as the guiding principle of the state...
, where they are severely restricted in practicing their religion
Status of religious freedom in People's Republic of China
Freedom of religion in the People's Republic of China is provided for by the country's constitution; however, the Government restricts religious practice to government-sanctioned organizations and registered places of worship. The constitution forbids religious practices that cause "disruption" or...
. This is the first film to ever document Chinese policy on religion in Xinjiang.
Awards
- Won - Warsaw International Filmfestival 2006, Watch Doc Award
- Won - Chicago International Documentary Festival 2007, Grand Prix, Short.
- Nominated - One World Media Awards, London2007.
Festival participation
On a Tightrope has participated and will be participating at several film festivals, including:- Chicago International Film FestivalChicago International Film FestivalThe Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America....
2006 - International Documentary Filmfestival AmsterdamInternational Documentary Filmfestival AmsterdamThe International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam is the world's largest documentary film festival held annually since 1988 in Amsterdam....
(IDFA) - Silver Wolf 2006 - Warsaw International Film FestivalWarsaw International Film FestivalWarsaw International Film Festival , also known as the Warsaw FilmFest, is a film festival held every October in Warsaw, Poland. The festival has been held every year since 1985....
, Warsaw - Human Rights in Film 2006 - Sundance Film FestivalSundance Film FestivalThe Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
- International Documentary Competition 2006 - One World Film FestivalOne World Film FestivalOne World is the biggest human rights film festival in the world, held annually in Prague and other cities of the Czech Republic. Established in 1999 by the Czech NGO People in Need, the presents over 100 documentary films during nine days in Spring from around the world...
, Prague 2007 - Docaviv, Tel Aviv 2007
- Gothenburg Film FestivalGothenburg Film FestivalGöteborg International Film Festival is an annual film festival in Gothenburg, Sweden, launched in 1979. The first year the festival showed 17 films on 3 screens, and had 3 000 visitors. Today, the film festival is the biggest in Scandinavia and takes place 10 days every year between January and...
, Sweden 2007 - Cleveland International Film FestivalCleveland International Film FestivalThe Cleveland International Film Festival, first held in 1977, is the largest film festival in Ohio. The 2010 festival featured over 300 films. Since 1991 the festival has been held at Tower City Cinemas in downtown Cleveland.-Roxanne T...
2007 - Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film FestivalMinneapolis-St. Paul International Film FestivalThe Minneapolis–St. Paul International Film Festival is a springtime film festival in the U.S. state of Minnesota that has been held since the early 1980s. Known as the largest film event in the Upper Midwest, the festival invites numerous films from all corners of the globe, and attracts a large...
2007 - Maryland Film Festival, 2007
- Philadelphia Film FestivalPhiladelphia Film FestivalThe Philadelphia Film Festival is held annually in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Until 2009 it was generally held during the first weeks of April....
, 2007 - Sarasota Film FestivalSarasota Film FestivalThe Sarasota Film Festival has been held annually since 1999 in Sarasota, Florida. The festival is held in April and has become one of the top ten independent festivals in North America...
, 2007