China's Van Goghs

Dafen is a district in China. Hundreds of painters work there. The work they do is producing copies. They paint copies of famous Western paintings. Zhao Xiaoyong is one of them. He came from the countryside and learned the work years ago. With his family he has painted thousands of Van Goghs. Over time he has come to feel close to the painter. In the end he wants to make original work. First, though, he wants to see something. He decides to see Van Gogh’s actual paintings. For that he travels to Europe. In Amsterdam he visits the museum and one of his buyers. What he sees changes how he looks at his own work. Zhao Xiaoyong appears in the seventy five minute documentary, a Chinese and Dutch co-production Yu Haibo and Yu Tianqi Kiki finished in 2016.