{ "id": "ep2edg48a0", "slug": "before-the-flood-2005-film", "title": "Before the Flood (2005 film)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form", "label": "Films by genre, form, and subject", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.documentary", "label": "Documentary and biographical films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.documentary" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.documentary.documentary-feature-works", "label": "Individual documentary feature films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.documentary.documentary-feature-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.documentary.documentary-feature-works.nature-science-and-environment-documenta", "label": "Nature, science, and environment documentaries", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.documentary.documentary-feature-works.nature-science-and-environment-documenta" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form", "label": "China · 2001 to 2020: Films by genre, form, and subject", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form", "path": [ { "id": "geo.chn", "label": "China", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2001", "label": "China · 2001 to 2020", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2001.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001.culture" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form", "label": "Films by genre, form, and subject", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Before the Flood (淹没, Yan Mo) is a 2005 Chinese documentary by Li Yifan and Yan Yu recording the 2002 demolition and relocation of Fengjie before Three Gorges Dam flooding; it won the Berlin Wolfgang Staudte Prize and Yamagata Grand Prize.", "snippet": "Before the Flood (淹没, Yan Mo) is a 2005 Chinese documentary by Li Yifan and Yan Yu recording the 2002 demolition and relocation of Fengjie before Three Gorges Dam flooding; it won the Berlin Wolfgang Staudte Prize and Yamagata Grand Prize.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.genre-form.documentary.documentary-feature-works.nature-science-and-environment-documenta", "markdown": "# Before the Flood (2005 film)\n\n**Before the Flood** (淹没, *Yan Mo*) is a 2005 Chinese documentary directed by Li Yifan and [Yan Yu](https://www.edgepedia.org/yan-yu) that records the relocation and demolition of the old [county town](https://www.edgepedia.org/county-town) of Fengjie on the Yangtze River in 2002, before the town was submerged to make way for the [Three Gorges Dam](https://www.edgepedia.org/three-gorges-dam) reservoir.[1](https://www.idfa.nl/en/film/821eb08a-ca12-473a-b9b0-b7d218858be2/before-the-flood/) The film observes residents, officials, church members, and laborers as a city that had stood for a thousand years is torn down and its people moved to newly built housing.[1](https://www.idfa.nl/en/film/821eb08a-ca12-473a-b9b0-b7d218858be2/before-the-flood/)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Original title | 淹没 (*Yan Mo*)[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0453979/) |\n| Directors | Li Yifan and Yan Yu; cinematography by Yan Yu, sound by Zi Li[1](https://www.idfa.nl/en/film/821eb08a-ca12-473a-b9b0-b7d218858be2/before-the-flood/) |\n| Production | Fan & Yu Documentary Studio, China; Mandarin language[1](https://www.idfa.nl/en/film/821eb08a-ca12-473a-b9b0-b7d218858be2/before-the-flood/) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0453979/) |\n| Runtime | Reported as 147 minutes (IDFA), 150 minutes (IMDb), and 143 minutes (Yamagata 2005 catalog)[1](https://www.idfa.nl/en/film/821eb08a-ca12-473a-b9b0-b7d218858be2/before-the-flood/) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0453979/) • [3](https://www.yidff.jp/2005/cat009/05c013-e.html) |\n| Subject | The 2002 relocation and demolition of Fengjie before the first water storage of the Three Gorges Dam[4](https://www.orientindiefilms.com/content/documentary/before-the-flood/) |\n| Awards | Wolfgang Staudte Prize (Berlin 2005), Grand Prize (Yamagata), Humanitarian Prize (Hong Kong), Best Documentary Feature (Lisbon)[5](https://www.icarusfilms.com/df-befor) |\n| Release | Theatrical release 16 February 2005[6](https://letterboxd.com/film/before-the-flood/) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Content\n\nThe film records the whole process of relocating and destroying the old county town before the water level rose in 2002, to ensure the success of the first water storage of the Three Gorges reservoir.[4](https://www.orientindiefilms.com/content/documentary/before-the-flood/) Its threads include:\n\n- An elderly volunteer soldier, a veteran of the [Korean War](https://www.edgepedia.org/korean-war), who runs an inn for hard laborers and fears losing his livelihood in the demolition.[1](https://www.idfa.nl/en/film/821eb08a-ca12-473a-b9b0-b7d218858be2/before-the-flood/) • [4](https://www.orientindiefilms.com/content/documentary/before-the-flood/)\n- Members of a Christian church who must decide whether to demolish their sacred building, with church officials competing with each other for benefits from the relocation.[1](https://www.idfa.nl/en/film/821eb08a-ca12-473a-b9b0-b7d218858be2/before-the-flood/) • [4](https://www.orientindiefilms.com/content/documentary/before-the-flood/)\n- Farmers facing the loss of land and livelihood through a housing lottery that assigns places in \"New Fengjie,\" where many new homes are much smaller than the houses residents had built over a lifetime.[1](https://www.idfa.nl/en/film/821eb08a-ca12-473a-b9b0-b7d218858be2/before-the-flood/) • [4](https://www.orientindiefilms.com/content/documentary/before-the-flood/)\n- Dockworkers salvaging what they can, and residents who do not know where they will stay even as the river approaches their homes.[1](https://www.idfa.nl/en/film/821eb08a-ca12-473a-b9b0-b7d218858be2/before-the-flood/) • [4](https://www.orientindiefilms.com/content/documentary/before-the-flood/)\n\nA British review noted that residents lucky in the housing lottery received a new but smaller and incomplete dwelling, or a sum of up to 500 yuan (about £35 at the time) in compensation for compulsory purchase, while others sold their old buildings to demolition contractors for scrap and foraged in the rubble.[9](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/before-the-flood-film-review-by-george-williamson) Within a couple of months Fengjie became a ghost town, its silence broken by sledgehammer gangs tearing down the last buildings.[5](https://www.icarusfilms.com/df-befor) • [9](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/before-the-flood-film-review-by-george-williamson) The distributor's synopsis frames the film as showing \"the contradiction between development and sacrifice,\" with conflicts with the authorities exposing what the IDFA synopsis calls the limits of Communist solidarity.[4](https://www.orientindiefilms.com/content/documentary/before-the-flood/) • [1](https://www.idfa.nl/en/film/821eb08a-ca12-473a-b9b0-b7d218858be2/before-the-flood/)\n\n## Background: Fengjie and the Three Gorges Dam\n\nThe Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River is the world's largest dam and hydroelectric power station. Building it meant that an estimated 1.2 million people were made to leave their homes, according to the IDFA festival archive; a contemporary Danish documentary review put the figure at almost two million people facing permanent flooding of farmland, historical sites, and homes.[1](https://www.idfa.nl/en/film/821eb08a-ca12-473a-b9b0-b7d218858be2/before-the-flood/) • [7](https://www.moderntimes.review/before-the-flood-yu-yifan-2005/) [Reservoir](https://www.edgepedia.org/reservoir) water storage began in 2003, with completion expected in 2009, by which time towns, villages, and cultural sites along the river would be underwater.[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0453979/) • [4](https://www.orientindiefilms.com/content/documentary/before-the-flood/)\n\nFengjie, a port town that had benefited from its location on the Yangtze for a thousand years, had its turn in 2002. The town is known for classical poetry: famed Tang Dynasty poets [Li Bai](https://www.edgepedia.org/li-bai) and [Du Fu](https://www.edgepedia.org/du-fu) wrote poems about its beauty, and friends of the directors urged them to film \"the capital of poetry.\"[1](https://www.idfa.nl/en/film/821eb08a-ca12-473a-b9b0-b7d218858be2/before-the-flood/) • [3](https://www.yidff.jp/2005/cat009/05c013-e.html) • [7](https://www.moderntimes.review/before-the-flood-yu-yifan-2005/) In the directors' statement for the 2005 Yamagata catalog, they wrote that unable to find poetic beauty, they went instead to a church, where songs and poetry were being sung.[3](https://www.yidff.jp/2005/cat009/05c013-e.html)\n\n## Production\n\nCo-director Yan Yu, speaking at a 2006 Tokyo screening hosted by the Yamagata festival, said filming began at the start of 2001, that shooting took one year and editing two years, and that the film was completed in July or August 2004.[8](https://www.cinematrix.jp/dds-e/2006/08/post_1.html) The film's North American distributor, Icarus Films, describes it as shot over the course of two years in a verité style.[5](https://www.icarusfilms.com/df-befor) The directors placed themselves in the midst of residents' internal discussions, and the editing follows some characters chronologically over the eleven months before the flood.[7](https://www.moderntimes.review/before-the-flood-yu-yifan-2005/)\n\n## Reception and legacy\n\nThe film won the Wolfgang Staudte Award in the Youth Forum at the 2005 Berlin Film Festival, its directors' first work, and was selected for the 2005 French Cinéma du Réel festival's International Competition.[5](https://www.icarusfilms.com/df-befor) • [10](https://cathayplay.com/films/before-the-flood/) It also won the Grand Prize at the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, the Humanitarian Prize at the Hong Kong Film Festival, and Best Documentary Feature at the Lisbon International Documentary Film Festival.[5](https://www.icarusfilms.com/df-befor) Icarus Films states that it inspired [Jia Zhangke](https://www.edgepedia.org/jia-zhangke)'s feature *[Still Life](https://www.edgepedia.org/still-life-2006-film)*, which was also shot in Fengjie; Jia Zhangke additionally served on the Yamagata jury that year.[5](https://www.icarusfilms.com/df-befor) • [3](https://www.yidff.jp/2005/cat009/05c013-e.html)\n\nThe film has been adopted for teaching in environmental studies, global development, and migration and urban studies, and is included in university library collections including Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Toronto, and Duke.[4](https://www.orientindiefilms.com/content/documentary/before-the-flood/) It is distributed in North America by Icarus Films as part of the dGenerate Films collection, with a 2012 DVD release.[5](https://www.icarusfilms.com/df-befor)\n\n## Note on the title\n\nThe English title *Before the Flood* is shared with unrelated works, including a 2016 [Leonardo DiCaprio](https://www.edgepedia.org/leonardo-dicaprio) climate documentary and a 2004 British documentary of the same name; the 2005 Chinese film is distinguished by its original title 淹没 (*Yan Mo*) and its directors.[11](https://www.natgeotv.com/uk/shows/natgeo/before-the-flood) • [12](https://www.moviepilot.de/movies/before-the-flood/stream)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Before the Flood, IDFA Archive](https://www.idfa.nl/en/film/821eb08a-ca12-473a-b9b0-b7d218858be2/before-the-flood/)\n2. [Before the Flood (2005), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0453979/)\n3. [YIDFF 2005 Official Catalog: Before the Flood](https://www.yidff.jp/2005/cat009/05c013-e.html)\n4. [Watch Before the Flood, Orient Indie Films](https://www.orientindiefilms.com/content/documentary/before-the-flood/)\n5. [Icarus Films: Before the Flood (Yan Mo)](https://www.icarusfilms.com/df-befor)\n6. [Before the Flood (2005), Letterboxd](https://letterboxd.com/film/before-the-flood/)\n7. [Facing an unknown future, Modern Times Review (2005)](https://www.moderntimes.review/before-the-flood-yu-yifan-2005/)\n8. [Q&A with co-director Yan Yu, DOCUMENTARY DREAM SHOW, Yamagata in Tokyo 2006](https://www.cinematrix.jp/dds-e/2006/08/post_1.html)\n9. [Before the Flood review, Eye For Film (2005)](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/before-the-flood-film-review-by-george-williamson)\n10. [Before the Flood, CathayPlay](https://cathayplay.com/films/before-the-flood/)\n11. [Before the Flood, National Geographic (2016 film)](https://www.natgeotv.com/uk/shows/natgeo/before-the-flood)\n12. [Before the Flood (2004), Moviepilot](https://www.moviepilot.de/movies/before-the-flood/stream)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Documentary and biographical films › Individual documentary feature films › Nature, science, and environment documentaries*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/before-the-flood-2005-film", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/before-the-flood-2005-film.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Before the Flood (2005 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/before-the-flood-2005-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Before the Flood (2005 film)](https://www.edgepedia.org/before-the-flood-2005-film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/before-the-flood-2005-film](https://www.edgepedia.org/before-the-flood-2005-film). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Before the Flood (2005 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/before-the-flood-2005-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Before the Flood is a 2005 Chinese documentary by Li Yifan and Yan Yu recording the 2002 demolition and relocation of Fengjie before Three Gorges Dam flooding; it won the Berlin Wolfgang Staudte Prize and Yamagata Grand Prize." }