China

China

China The World of Fighting Crickets

Dokumentary // ZDF / ARTE 2014, 45 mins, HD

The film tells of an ancient Chinese tradition, one that in the context of modern China seems bizarre to say the least: the cricket fight, a popular sport here for over a thousand years.
Emperors once boasted of the fighting spirit of their own six-legged combatants and staged showdowns in miniature arenas. It is a tradition that continues today: in Shanghai alone there are over a half million cricket-fighting enthusiasts, and in China as a whole the number may be as high as six million.
The summer season sees them traveling to cricket markets all over the country and reaching deep into their pockets to support their hobby – for a good fighter can cost up to a thousand Euros.

Writer and Director: Antje Christ
Camera: Marcel Schmitz
Sound: Nils Drescher
Editing: Jens Gronheid
Music: Karl-Heinz Blomann, Claas Hanson
Production: Antje Christ
Commissioning editor: Linde Dehner

Go back