Screening: May the Soil Be Everywhere
Join us for a tender and magical evening of memory, migration, and the power of family matriarchs through film, music, and conversation.
The night will begin with a vocal performance by Mongolian musician Suvda Khereid, evoking an awakening of the land. From there, we journey deep into a valley of China’s Loess Plateau through Yehui Zhao’s feature debut, May the Soil Be Everywhere. Blending oral history, performance, and animation, the film honors a family deeply rooted as people of the land, portraying the soil as both a witness to history and a teacher of fortitude and love.
Afterward, join director Yehui Zhao and acclaimed multimedia artist Betty Yu for an intimate, post-screening dialogue.
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May the Soil Be Everywhere, Feature Documentary, 93 minutes
A tender and poetic matriarchal ode, May the Soil Be Everywhere traces the story of a farmer’s family in a remote Chinese village who endured war, revolution, and the deadliest famine. Hardship eventually forced them to scatter. Against the backdrop of China’s rapid urbanization, the filmmaker sets out to unearth her family’s enduring bond with this long-forgotten village, hidden deep in the vast mountain ranges of the Loess Plateau.
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“What a glorious, magical film! The film’s voice over narration is completely evocative—full of intellectual rigor, curiosity, myth and poetry.”
— Lynne Sachs, Filmmaker and Poet
“A shapeshifting and playful feature debut, the film is infused with performance, poetry, and animation as Zhao constructs a living archive of oral history and community theater.”
— Chloé Trayner, True/False Film Festival
“A powerful testament to the resilience of the human spirit.”
— Gugi Gumilang, Program Director of In-Docs
“With remarkable intimacy and care, Zhao threads together memory, migration, and matriarchal lineage into a quiet, moving portrait of belonging.”
— UnionDocs – Center for Documentary Art