Doors 6:30p
Show 7:00p

UnionDocs
352 Onderdonk Ave
Ridgewood, NY

UnionDocs is delighted to be back with another edition of Nooks & Crannies犄角旮旯! Come through for a screening featuring The Echoes of Rust by Charles Xiuzhi Dong董秀智 and Free and Easy by Geng Jun耿军. 

For long, Northeastern China (or Dongbei东北) was seen as the backbone of the country’s economy with its booming industries: coal mines, steelworks, and oil. Starting from the 90s, the region entered a steep decline with China’s many new economic reform methods. When mentioning “Dongbei” now, people might associate it with images of factories shuttered, folks migrating south. What remained were aging workers, abandoned infrastructures, and once lively cities, now in fragments.

While the Dongbei is often reduced to stereotypes of decay and emptiness, Free and Easy轻松+愉快 and The Echoes of Rust锈迹回响 offer far more textured, humane portrayals. Rather than romanticizing decay or flattening the region into a symbol of failure, these films dwell in the lives that persist within it, with humor, dignity, and quiet resilience. Geng Jun’s absurdist lens captures the absurdities of survival, while Charles Dong’s poetic documentary reveals complex layers of care, memory, and contradiction. Together, the films push beyond the monolith, illuminating a region shaped not only by decline but by the people who remain and endure.

A conversation will follow the program with director Geng Jun to further explore his long-time practices of making films locally in his hometown Hegang鹤岗, Heilongjiang, China. Don’t miss it!

Program

The Echoes of Rust 锈迹回响, by Charles Xiuzhi Dong董秀智

23 mins, 2025

The Echoes of Rust is an experimental documentary film that takes place against the backdrop of elderly care homes, kindergartens, the 219 Park, and various cityscapes. Through visually striking cinematography and a unique narrative structure, the film portrays the urban ruins and inner turmoil caused by economic decline. Simultaneously, it vividly depicts the social contradictions arising from economic recession and the lingering effects of post-socialism, capturing the impact on the lives and values of people in the Northeast region of China.

Free and Easy轻松+愉快, by Geng Jun耿军

99 mins, 2016

When a traveling soap salesman arrives in a desolate Chinese town, a crime occurs, and sets the strange residents against each other with tragicomic results.

Bios

Charles Xiuzhi Dong董秀智, an award-winning director, based in both the United States and China. He holds a BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and an MFA in Directing from the American Film Institute (AFI). His film After Class (2020) was an official selection at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and won Best Short Film at the Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia. His documentary Anshan Diaries (2021) was nominated for a Student Academy Award and premiered at the 65th San Francisco International Film Festival. His first Spanish-language documentary, Langue, premiered at the Palm Springs International ShortFest and was once again nominated for a Student Academy Award. The film also received a Special Jury Mention at the 2022 Nowness Short Film Awards and was selected for the 2023 Pingyao International Film Festival. His film A Quiet Night in Monterey Park (2022) had its world premiere at the 44th Cairo International Film Festival. Most recently, The Echoes of Rust (2025), premiered at the 2025 Clermont- Ferrand International Short Film Festival. His latest work, Dynamite and Poetry, a portrait of miner-poet Chen Nianxi, is now streaming on NOWNESS.

Geng Jun耿军 grew up in Heilongjiang, China. Without any film school training, he moved to Beijing and directed many films including HAWTHORN (Short, 2002), DIARY IN BULK (Short, 2003), BARBECUE (2004), YOUTH (2008), AIRPLANE (Short, 2012) and THE HAMMER AND THE SICKLE ARE SLEEPING (Short, 2013). He gained more attention with FREE AND EASY (2016) when it won the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award at Sundance Film Festival and received four major nominations at Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival including Best Film and Best Director. His most recent film MANCHURIAN
TIGER (2021) won the top distinction of Golden Goblet Award for Best Feature Film at the 24th Shanghai International Film Festival.