Is Jonathan Pang from Beijing a clever business man, a dreamer, or plain mad? For 30 million Euro he has bought the former military airbase near Parchim in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. He wants to convert it into a gigantic cargo fright centre, including hotels, shopping und business centres. Reality, however, does not comply. German red tape, repercussions form the global economic crisis of 2008 and the unexpectedly bad condition of the runways threaten to derail the project. But Jonathan Pang isn't giving up.

The former military airbase near Parchim (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) is not in good condition. The tower merely consists of some barracks on stilts, the old signalling lamp emits loud squeaks as it revolves. Nasty surprises lurk in and underneath the tarmac of the runways. Was Beijing business man Jonathan Pang naive when he purchased the airport for 30 million Euro in 2007? Or is he just a ruthless property speculator? Or some madman, a dreamer? Does he have a sound business mind? Pang is planing to turn the airfield into a major air cargo hub for European and Chinese trade, replete with new terminals, hotels, shopping facilities and business centres. He's also considering a leisure park and has promised to create hundreds of new jobs. He introduces himself to potential investors and to his employees, quoting John F. Kennedy, when he says, I'm a Parchimer!

So far nothing is happening at the airport. A Swissair (which has since gone bankrupt) plane appears unexpectedly, ready for landing. After a brief touch down, the plane takes off again. Providing space for pilot training, which is hard to carry out on more frequented airfields, provides the only income for the airport. No-one really lands or takes off here, yet. A lone young man operates the tower while deliberating on whether to oil the squeaking lamp on the roof. We see more animals than air-planes in this documentary. The fox and the hare are literally bidding each other good-night here.

Pang commutes tirelessly between Beijing and Parchim. His office in the Chinese capital boasts a wall clock displaying the local time at Parchim. He obtained initial finance from the “Export-Import Bank of China”. He now seeks further investment from his home country, pointing to his fellow countrymen's rising purchasing power, which should one day be buying “good things from Germany” via a free-trade zone at Parchim and the biggest duty-free shopping complex in Europe. He has taken on some German employees, chief of whom Werner Knan from Bavaria, who is charged with dealing with the heavy-handed and unimaginative local bureaucracy, which requires all his patience and a lot of his own money. Years later the new tower is up at last. The flight controller looks across yearningly to the building from his old barracks, but the requisite technology is not yet operational. He waxes philosophical in self-consolation: “The Chinese think in different dimensions of time than we do!”

Jonathan Pang blames the global recession since 2008, yet without diminishing his optimism about the project, least when he perpetually surprises his German underling Knan with ever new and crazy ideas. Now he wants to export fish and crabs form Brandenburg to China, and erect a casino, with help from an expert from Macao. The plans are temporarily stalled. So what really drives this man from Beijing, who pushes himself to his punishing daily jogging routine? It appears not to be the thirst for money. “Over the years, Jonathan Pang and I have built a close and trusting relationship – and we're both nearly the same age. As a result there are some revealing scenes in the film, that I would not have got had I taken less time to shoot.” (Stefan Eberlein)

This is evident in the film's key scene, when Pang visits his mother in the village in central China, where he was born. Here he provides an unintended insight into his motivation. He was working in Nigeria once, arranging the first flights from Beijing to Lagos, when his father died. Jonathan Pang had to decide, and did not fly home for the funeral as he felt duty-bound by his business commitments. He tells the story in English, at his mother's home, while the latter, who speaks no English, consoles the desperately sobbing Pang. The scene is as surprising as it is moving, and it explains why Pang must pursue success. Even when towards the end of the film everything still remains open, and he delves into the problems of globalisation. With Herbert Achternbusch the saying went: “You have no chance, but make use of it!”

Production Country

Germany (DE)

Production Period

2008-2015

Production Year

2015

color

color

Aspect Ratio

16:9

Duration

Feature-Length Film (61+ Min.)

Type

Documentary

Genre

Biography / Portrait

Topic

Architecture / Urban Space, Globalisation, Home, Psychology

Available Media

DVD, Blu-ray Disc, DCP

Original Version

German (de)

DVD

Subtitles

German (partly), German (full), English (en), French (fr), Spanish (Latin America), Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (zh), Russian (ru), Arabic (ar)

Blu-ray Disc

Subtitles

German (partly), German (full), English (en), French (fr), Spanish (Latin America), Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (zh), Russian (ru), Arabic (ar)

DCP

Subtitles

German (partly), German (full), English (en), French (fr), Spanish (Latin America), Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (zh), Russian (ru), Arabic (ar)

Note on the Format

DCP (uv) ohne UT