The 68-year-old rural projectionist has shown movies for 48 years, and his daughter wants to "take over": Father can't let go, I will stick to it...

Recently, Zou Zhixian played an open-air movie in the countryside

As night fell, at the cultural activity square of Xinhua Village, Lizhou Town, Xichang City, Sichuan Province, villagers arrived as scheduled. They all came to watch movies. "We're showing "The Founding of the Party" today." Zou Zhixian, a 68-year-old rural film projectionist, stood beside the projector, greeting the villagers and debugging the machine.

"This year is the 48th year. I have visited every village in Xichang City, and almost tens of thousands of movies have been shown." Zou Zhixian told the Red Star News reporter. In his 48 years of screening career, he has witnessed movies from film to digital. As the times changed, he also raised his children and grandchildren by showing movies. Now, Zou Zhixian is getting older, but he is still sticking to it, "Even if there is only one audience, he will continue to put it down."

Daughter He Xiaoyan has shown movies with her father Zou Zhixian since she was a child, and she has become full of affection for movies over time. She also knows the importance of movies to her father, and she is now joining the screening team. She said that she will take over the "baton" from her father and continue to show movies.

Recently, Zou Zhixian played an open-air movie in the countryside

Rural film projectionists stick to it for 48 years

Change from film to digital

On July 12, when I walked into Zou Zhixian's home in Hongqi Village, Lizhou Town, Xichang City, several old-fashioned movie projectors came into view, and some films, slides, etc. were stored in boxes. These were Zou Zhixian "Heart Treasure".

"This is a three-lens slide projector, which was produced in the 1970s. At that time, most slide projectors had a single lens, so there were very few three-lens projectors. We just put the slides into the card slot one by one, and the content of the slides It can be continuously projected." Zou Zhixian said like a treasure.

On all kinds of slides, you can see patterns or characters of different shapes, and each slide is made by him. There are thousands of such slides. In 1974, in the selection of Xinhua Commune, Zou Zhixian stood out from many selected people and became a film presenter. This release lasted for 48 years.

Zou Zhixian's projection equipment

Zou Zhixian said that the first-generation projector he used was a Hongqi brand, which required manual operation. Later, the old Changjiang brand movie projector and the 16mm Ganguang 16-GS projector were released. From 16mm to 35mm, in the 1990s, the projection equipment became the Jinggangshan 104X 35mm film projector, and the picture of the film became clear. Beginning in 2014, Zou Zhixian replaced the projector with a digital movie projector.

It is this 35mm projector that has been in theaters for many years. Zou Zhixian raised the two children in his family with movie tickets that cost only a few cents or a dime apiece. Now, he often comes to old machines, old films, and old slides with small brushes and other tools to wipe, fiddle with, and tidy up these old objects like treasures. These old objects have witnessed historical changes and his hometown together with him. It is also a testimony of his 48 years of filming.

Zou Zhixian when he was young

Zou Zhixian recalled that after 1970, many of the party's principles and policies had to be disseminated by film teams going to the mountains and the countryside. At that time, the showrunners had to go to various production teams to find the owners of good people and good deeds, learn about the good deeds they did, and record them with pen and paper. "At that time, we went to interview people for the first half of the day, wrote manuscripts and made slides for the second half of the day, and used projection equipment to print the slides on the screen in the evening, and added our own voices to commend good people and good deeds."

Talking about the past, Zou Zhixian’s deepest impression was a night in 1977. He had to return to the original Lizhou Commune after showing a movie in Ningle Village, Lizhou Town. It was raining heavily and the mountain road was muddy. With heavy equipment and a film in his hand, he slid directly down the hillside due to slippery feet. In order to protect the equipment and the film, he almost slid down the mountain with the equipment in his arms. Finally, due to the rising water, he took a boat and returned to the commune at 1 o'clock in the morning.

When he was just engaged in film projection work, there was no means of transportation, and all the projection equipment was carried on his shoulders, which lasted for 10 years. "Even if there was transportation in the past, there were no flat land or roads to go to many villages. You had to climb mountains, so you had to carry or carry the projection equipment up the mountain." He said that he bought a tricycle only after the road was repaired. This electric tricycle is already his second.

Zou Zhixian's Screening Work Diary

Among the old belongings of Zou Zhixian, there is a "Showing Work Diary", which records the number of audiences at a certain movie scene, ranging from 2,000 to hundreds of people, with an average of more than 500 people per show. Later, due to the popularization of TV, Internet and mobile phones, open-air movie screenings gradually faded out of people's vision. Since 2007, the state has focused on supporting rural film screenings by distributing subsidies, and the film program list has also been continuously updated.

Zou Zhixian and his daughter He Xiaoyan

Daughter took over the "baton"

Follow the footsteps of my father and continue to play movies

Talking about the development of movies in rural villages, Zou Zhixian said that after 1980, TV sets, VCD players, DVD recorders, etc. gradually emerged. With the popularization of new playback equipment, the movie market was impacted, and people who watched movies gradually became more and more popular. It started to decline, but his love for movies made him not give up easily.

"I told the leaders and related staff of the film company that even if there was only one audience, I would put it down, and I would die next to the projector." His persistence and perseverance are worthy of encouragement, and it is agreed that he will continue to play movies.

In 1986, in order to continue showing movies, he went to a credit union for a loan, and with some support from the Xinhua Commune at that time, a small movie theater built with civil structures was built, and its name was Yuehua Township Cinema. When people come to the cinema to watch movies, they all sit on small benches made of wooden sticks. In addition to the function of showing movies, cinemas are also popular as meeting rooms and event venues. The cinema remained open until 1997 when it closed...

The projection equipment preserved in Zou Zhixian's home

"I remember that my father would set off from Lizhou every day before dawn at five or six o'clock to go to the film company in Taojiaci Lane in the old city to get films. When a good film like "Mom Loves Me Again" came out , The cinema has at least four or five shows a day, and an annual average of 200 shows is inevitable. Now, the picture of my father using splicing glue to glue the film is still deeply in my mind." Daughter He Xiaoyan said.

"My grandfather used to be the focus of the crowd wherever he went, and everyone revolved around him." said Chen Pan, Zou Zhixian's granddaughter. The scenery is beautiful, but for the family members, they feel that this job is very hard, and they are also worried about the safety of grandpa.

At 6 o'clock in the evening, Zou Zhixian and his daughter He Xiaoyan took the projection equipment and connecting cables from the tricycle in the small ethnic cultural activity square of Xinhua Village, Lizhou Town. Although he is 68 years old, Zou Zhixian is still very deft and skilled when he climbs the elevator to hang the screen cloth on the nails on the wall.

Zou Zhixian

"Now there are more people watching movies." During the movie screening, Zou Zhixian stood upright, with one hand on the projector, feeling the temperature of the projector until the movie ended and the audience left. It is reported that most of the people who watch Baba movies are middle-aged and elderly people and children. The old people watch it for feelings, and the children watch it for freshness.

"One of my characteristics is that I don't accept the old age, I don't want to bear the audience, I don't want to bear the projector, and I still want to show the movie in person whenever I have the opportunity. Next, I will gradually pass the 'baton' to my daughter." Zou Zhixian told the Red Star News reporter. Although now He is getting older, but he still feels full of vitality. Even if he feels unwell, he will insist on showing the movie. If he can't keep showing it, his daughter will show the movie instead of him.

Daughter He Xiaoyan told the Red Star News reporter that she is 42 years old this year and is currently engaged in sales. She has relatively free time. She followed her father to play movies since she was a child. Over time, she has become full of affection for movies. She also knows the importance of movies to her father. She said that in the future, she will follow in her father's footsteps, and if her father can't let go, she will insist on showing the movie.

Han Mei, Red Star News reporter, Jiang Long, photo report

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