Straw Weave explores the true life of a 97-year-old granny and her 71-year-old daughter in Pingdu, Qingdao, China, who have managed to feed their family through manual straw weave for the past 60 years.
Straw weave has more than 160 years of history in the countryside of Pingdu. Over the past century, many local people have earned their living by weaving straw plaits. During an in-depth interview in the countryside, the crew met the mother and daughter by chance in the Qiangaojia Village, Xinhe town, Pingdu. This centenarian gave birth to seven children, but with her husband's premature death, and sufferings from hunger and diseases, four of them died early. In order to make a living, she had to ask her daughter to give up education. From the age of six, the daughter started helping her mother support the whole family by weaving plaits. Together, they struggled against poverty and became inextricably bound up with straw weave.
The film shooting lasted a year and a half, and with the combination of true record and movie narrative, it demonstrates dramatic changes in the fate of the mother and daughter and social vicissitudes through expressive camera language.