Over the past 12 years, Tang Wenlin and his wife, along with their son Tang Peijia and daughter-in-law Long Juan, searched for four intangible cultural heritage craftsmen in Shaoyang and captured precious footage of them, carefully crafting a 31-minute short documentary titled "My Friends, The Inheritors." The documentary centers on the search for Baoqing bamboo carving craftsman Yang Yilou, handmade paper craftsman Li Zhijun, Yugu (fishing drum) artist Luo Yongyang, and Dong embroiderer Shi Dongjuan, showcasing their traditional crafts and recording their unique skills on the verge of being lost.

"I started out as a craftsman, and I have many friends who are craftsmen in Shaoyang who all have exceptional craft skills. However, their skills face the risk of being lost, with no successors to carry them on. That's why I decided to use video to record their stories, so that more people can learn about these craft skills, and help Hunan's intangible cultural heritage stories reach the world stage," said Tang Wenlin.

This documentary won first prize in the 2nd Hong Kong International AIGC Cultural Digital Content Creation Competition and the first prize in the documentary category at the 11th Ningbo Film Awards, and was shortlisted for the 2026 Asia-Pacific Youth Micro Movie Festival. It has gained international acclaim, having been shortlisted for international film events such as the Moscow Film Festival, New York Chinese Film Festival, Toronto Chinese Film Festival, and the 14th Silk Road International Film Festival, and screened in Moscow, Harvard University, the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto, and Trinity College Dublin.

This article is from Hunan Provincial Government. www.enghunan.gov.cn. 

Translator: Pang Yuehui 

Chinese source: Hunan Daily