Beyond the Clouds

Filmed and directed by Phil Agland (River Films), this seven part Channel 4 series (first broadcast 1994) followed the everyday life of people in the rural Chinese town of Lijiang and its environs, revealing their common concerns, hopes and fears amid a new wave of gang violence, drug abuse and economic and political reform.

Spanning two years, featuring local families as their lives twist, turn, deepen, intermingle, and blossom: the police investigation of a murder, the activities of an independent businessman, the effort of a college teacher to help her handicapped daughter, and the concerns of a doctor that his practice be continued. The universal fears and dreams of a vast continent are condensed into this tightly edited subtitled series.

Zuleika Kingdon was responsible for programme 4 in the series.  This episode looked closely at the role of Bai ethnic minority children alongside events in the agricultural calendar year which culminated with a murder of a young woman in the village by a boy of 15, having a devastating effect on the accused's family.