The Transition Period (dir. Zhou Hao)

The Transition Period at Museum of Chinese in America

Description: 

Filmed with unprecedented access to a Communist Party leader, investigative filmmaker Zhou Hao offers a startlingly candid look inside Chinese politics at the local level.

As Chinese Communist Party secretary, Guo Yongchang was the most powerful man in his county, located in the rural inland province of Henan.  Guo invited acclaimed documentary filmmaker Zhou Hao to record his final months in office. Through Zhou’s lens, we see Guo work tirelessly to achieve his greatest desire: for Henan to match the affluence of booming coastal areas.  Zhou also captures the sordid details of local-level politics in pursuit of growth: lavish parties with foreign investors, threats to local workers protesting unpaid wages, and offers of bribes and kickbacks.

Hailed by international press as an exceptional work of investigative filmmaking, The Transition Period captures the daily life of a Chinese official with incredible ground-level detail. With boastfully candid interviews from Guo and fly-on-the-wall coverage of closed-door dealings, Zhou lays bare the unsavory dynamics within China’s top-down power structures. Penetrating in scope yet objective in its approach, The Transition Period reveals the conflicting forces shaping China’s path to prosperity.

Address:
215 Centre Street New York, NY 10013
(212) 619-4785

For more info, click here.

Friday, May 18th at 6:30 pm and Saturday, May 19th at 3:00pm 

Old Dog (dir. Pema Tseden)

Old Dog at Seattle International Film Festival

Description: 

A family on the Himalayan plains discovers their dog is worth a fortune, but selling it comes at a terrible price.

The Tibetan nomad mastiff is an exotic prize dog in China, fetching as much as millions of dollars from wealthy Chinese. When a young man notices several thefts of mastiffs from Tibetan farm families, he decides to sell his family’s dog before it is stolen and sold on the black market. His father, an aging Tibetan herder, is furious when he discovers their dog missing. When the father seeks to buy the dog back, it leads to a series of tragicomic events that threaten to tear the family apart, while showing the erosion of Tibetan culture under the pressures of contemporary society.

Pema Tseden (The Silent Holy Stones, The Search) is the leading filmmaker of a newly emerging Tibetan cinema and the first director in China to film his movies entirely in the Tibetan language. His third feature Old Dog is both a humorous and tragic allegory and a sober depiction of life among the impoverished rural Tibetan community. The masterful HD cinematography “perfectly incorporates the desolate living conditions of these outpost towns whilst magnificently capturing the majestic Himalayan scenery which surrounds them” (Patrick Gamble, CineVue). Pema Tseden “shows Tibet through Tibetan eyes, as it is lived and experienced by ordinary people” (The Culture Trip).

Address: 

Harvard Exit Theatre
807 East Roy Street
Seattle, WA 98102

(206) 781-5755

Tickets & More Information here.

]]> http://dgeneratefilms.com/chinese-cinema-events/weekly-events-the-transition-period-in-nyc-old-dog-in-seattle/feed/ 0 http://dgeneratefilms.com/academia/swarthmore-college-seeks-assistant-professor-of-chinese/ http://dgeneratefilms.com/academia/swarthmore-college-seeks-assistant-professor-of-chinese/#comments Mon, 14 May 2012 15:35:05 +0000 mayarudolph http://dgeneratefilms.com/?p=9780 Swarthmore College is inviting applications to fill a 4/5-time, one-year replacement position as Assistant Professor of Chinese, with possibility of renewal FOR up to TWO MORE years pending on the need, effective Fall 2012.

Qualifications: Ph.D. in some area of Chinese language and cultural studies; experience teaching modern standard Mandarin Chinese at a North American college or university; familiarity with a broad range of instructional materials and media, including computer-aided multi-media resources; native or near-native proficiency in both Chinese and English.

Salary and benefits highly competitive. Send cover letter, C.V., and three letters of recommendation to:

Chinese Search, Department of Modern Languages and Literature
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore, PA 19081

Review of applications begins immediately and continues until the position is filled. Chosen candidates may be interviewed by phone.

Swarthmore College is a highly selective liberal arts college, located in the suburbs of Philadelphia, whose mission combines academic rigor with social responsibility.  Swarthmore has a strong institutional commitment to inclusive excellence through diversity in its educational program and employment practices.  The College actively seeks and welcomes applications from candidates with exceptional qualifications, particularly those with demonstrable commitments to a more inclusive society and world.

This is an open-rank search, and the appointment will begin September 1, 2013.
Applicants from a variety of fields in Chinese Humanities will be considered, including literary, film, visual, and cultural studies.

All applicants should possess a high level of proficiency in Chinese. Successful candidates are expected to teach a range of courses in Chinese Humanities, from introductory undergraduate lecture courses through graduate seminars; to supervise doctoral dissertations; and to participate actively in the programs of the department as well as in area studies initiatives within a larger university community that encourages interdisciplinary efforts.

The Ph.D. is required prior to appointment. Evidence of excellent teaching and research abilities is essential. Please submit a letter of application, CV, statement of teaching philosophy and experience, evidence of teaching excellence (if available), and a statement of current and future research plans.  Junior candidates may submit a placement dossier with representative publications or writing samples and at least three letters of recommendation. Senior candidates should include the names of suggested reviewers.
Application materials, except letters of recommendation, must be submitted electronically. Please submit your materials as email attachments to chinesehumanities@sharepoint.umich.edu. The subject of your email must appear as follows: “Last name, First name”.  For example: Doe, Jane.

Letters of recommendation should be emailed as PDF files to ashwolfe@umich.edu.

To be assured consideration, applications must be received by September 5, 2012.  The University of Michigan is an Equal Opportunity/ Affirmative Action Employer. Women and minorities are encouraged to apply. The University is supportive of the needs of dual career couples.  All applications will be acknowledged.

Ying Liang (photo credit: Wenjei Cheng)

Ying Liang, the director of Taking Father Home, Good Cats, and The Other Half and a leading figure in the world of independent Chinese cinema, has reportedly had police visit his family in Shanghai. Ying, who is in Hong Kong, has been threatened with arrest if he returns to China. The harassment began following a screening of his most recent narrative feature, When Night Falls at the Jeonju Film Festival in South Korea. Writing for The New Yorker, Richard Brody reports:

The film that got Ying in trouble is his latest, “When Night Falls,” which, according to [Malaysian filmmaker and blogger Edmund] Yeo, was shown in the Jeonju film festival, in South Korea. Yeo’s post has a wide range of details about the film and the case. The movie is based on the true story of a man who was “executed in 2008 for murdering six policemen with a knife in a Shanghai police station after being arrested and beaten for riding an unlicensed bicycle.”

Yeo quotes from Ying’s post on Facebook, which states that, after the film was shown in Jeonju, his family, in Shanghai, and his wife’s family, in Sichuan, were visited and intimidated by the Chinese police, who then tried “to buy the copyright of the film” in Korea for an extraordinarily high price. Ying adds that he returned to Hong Kong (where he is currently working) and learned that he would be arrested if he goes back to China.

Since the incidents, Ying has been active on facebook and twitter, commenting on the evolving situation and assuring concerned friends and fans alike that his family “are ok.” Ying has also released a series of statements on facebook, some of which have been made public to non-”friends”. In a most recent facebook post, dated May 9th, Ying clarifies some of the conditions surrounding the harassment:

“My parents and my wife’s parents were harassed by policemen at the early of this April. The last time, I got the info, the policemen from Police Department, National Security, and National Protection had visited my family in Shanghai at least seven times. Their main work were helping my parents to understand “my case”: such as the film exposed the eyesore of them, nobody could be allowed to touch the case about Yang Jia, and I wouold be arrested once I come back. The day before yesterday, my friend gave a call to my home; she said my mother’s voice and emotion sound ok, but telephone always discontinue, maybe phone was being eavesdropped.

When the Policemen from National Security visited me in HK, they didn’t use true identity, just said they from the Foreign Office of Shanghai Government. Because of my families’ troublesome, I thought I must see them. They told me my film didn’t meet the true, and violate somebody’s emotion. Then they request me to cancel all screening plan, or re-edit the film.” [sic]

As friends and supporters of Ying Liang, we at dGenerate Films extend our great concern to Ying and his family. Ying Liang is not only a remarkable director, but a leader, teacher, and role model in the Chinese independent film community—a true symbol of independent thought and artistic practice. Our thoughts are with Ying and his family. We will be following this situation as more information becomes available.

"Titianic 3D" in China (courtesy sina.com)

James Cameron, director of Avatar and Titanic, deep-sea explorer, and self-proclaimed “king of the world” was in Beijing earlier this week attending the Beijing International Film Festival. He spoke with Edward Wong of The New York Times and Gady Epstein of The Economist about his involvement in China, the numbers game of US-China co-productions, and the avalanche of Avatar the future may hold.

Wong, Epstein, and Cameron also discussed the censorship and quotas governing theatrical releases in China:

NYT: You must have had people talk to you to give you a briefing on the censorship process, about how it works or how it’s affected certain films here. Do you have any general thoughts on that?

Cameron: As an artist, I’m always against censorship. But censorship’s a reality, even in the U.S. We have a form of it there. We used to have the Hays commission. We now have the M.P.A.A. ratings system, which is basically a self-censorship process that prevents government from doing it. But the economic imperatives are that if you get an R rating, the studio won’t make a film that looks like it’s headed toward an R rating, and if you get a R you’ve got to cut it yourself to comply with PG-13. So it’s really just a form of censorship indirectly.”

NYT: Do you consider that the same as Chinese censorship?

Cameron: You’ve got a little more choice in it. It’s not as draconian. But I can’t be judgmental about another culture’s process. I don’t think that’s healthy.

While Cameron expressed misgivings about the censorship rules at play in Chinese cinema, he stressed a belief that things are “moving in the right direction.” Said Cameron:

Well, “Titanic” is actually censored less this time than it was in ’97. Because it was their second bite at the apple. It’s gotten much wider and we’re seeing it being less restrictive. So we’re moving in the right direction. The quotas for international films coming in now, it’s a higher quota, the percentage of revenue is higher, so everything is moving in the right direction. You see the market opening up.

Still, Cameron’s involvement in China appears to be a simple investment of time and labor into an environment where both box office sales and 3D technology are on the rise. Exhibiting a mild enthusiasm for Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige, Cameron admittedly lacks much knowledge—or empathy—for Chinese artists under the thumb of government censorship:

NYT: Did you talk to other filmmakers – your peers – about Chinese censorship?

Cameron: No. I’m not interested in their reality. My reality is that I’ve made two films in the last 15 years that both have been resounding successes here, and this is an important market for me. And so I’m going to do what’s necessary to continue having this be an important market for my films. And I’m going to play by the rules that are internal to this market. Because you have to. You know, I can stomp my feet and hold my breath but I’m not going to change people’s minds that way. Now I do feel that everything is trending in the right direction right now, as I mentioned earlier.

To hear James Cameron, whose box office successes in China represent the pinnacle of Hollywood’s dearest hopes, wax so apathetic about censorship and the reality of Chinese filmmakers is disheartening. The recent swirl of co-production news that has surrounded US filmmaking efforts in China has seemed to neglect a seemingly crucial question: exactly what kind of collaborations can we expect from these future co-productions? Co-productions may hold the power to shape future censorship constraints, as well as infuse both Hollywood and the Chinese film industry with new talent and ideas, but Cameron seems to have all but written Chinese filmmakers out of the equation. Certainly, Cameron does not speak for all of Hollywood. What he does express in his careless attitude towards other filmmakers, however, speaks at a blockbuster volume.

Beijing in focus

A new book from the World Film Locations series entitled World Film Locations: Beijing, edited by John Berra and Liu Yang, is available for pre-order. This exciting new title features “a series of spotlight essays and illustrated scene reviews, a cast of seasoned scholars and fresh new voices explore the vast range of films—encompassing drama, madcap comedy, martial arts escapism, and magical realism—that have been set in Beijing. Unveiling a city of hidden courtyards, looming skyscrapers, and traditional Hutong neighborhoods, these contributors depict a distinctive urban culture that reflects the conflict and tumult of a nation in transition. With considerations of everything from the back streets of Beijing Bicycle to the forbidden palace of The Last Emperor to the tourist park of The World, this volume is a definitive cinematic guide to an ever-changing and endlessly fascinating capital city.”

While World Film Locations: Beijing features discussions of many of the films that first made Beijing recognizable to world audiences in the 1990s and early 2000s, this collection of writings also highlight numerous dGenerate titles, including Liu Jiayin‘s Oxhide, Ou Ning‘s Meishi Street, and Cui Zi’en‘s We Are the … of Communism. Addressing the city’s historical legacy as a bastion of Chinese power to modern concerns of urban development and shifting culture through myriad cinematic lenses, World Film Locations: Beijing boasts writing from such scholars as Chris Berry, Yomi Braester, Seio Nakajima, and Grace Wang.

The book is available for pre-order here.

Responsibilities include expanding the Chinese program, student advisement, and scholarly research. Proof of excellence in teaching and an active research agenda required. The successful candidate will be expected to participate in departmental and university-wide committees and to oversee the curricular offerings in the Chinese program as well as the extra-curricular offerings of the Chinese Club.

QUALIFICATIONS
Ph.D.; teaching experience; native or near-native fluency (Mandarin).

SALARY RANGE
Dependent upon qualifications.

STARTING DATE
Sept. 2012

SEND COVER LETTER AND RESUME ONLY:
Dr. Lois Oppenheim, Professor and Chair
Dept. of Modern Languages and Literatures
Conrad J. Schmitt Hall, 222B
Montclair State University
Montclair, New Jersey 07043

Tel: 973-655-7423
Dept:973-655-4283
Fax: 973-655-5515

http://chss.montclair.edu/modlang/

Does The Art Movement Exist?

The first ISAAS series last year brought over twenty films to numerous Chinese cities with the theme “To Live In China,” and was profiled in Chinese Artforum. This year’s series will feature work by Jia Zhangke, Ai Weiwei, Hu Jie, Zhao Liang, Li Ning and many more. The objective of this mobile screening series and art exhibition is to encourage the spread of Chinese independent narrative and documentary, promote new thinking on independent arts practice, and create an environmental of accessible artistic exchange. More information (in Chinese only) can be found here.

Sound has recently emerged as a vibrant field of inquiry in film studies. It provides an important starting point for the development of new analytic frameworks, including models of reception, historiographic perspectives, and theoretical and practical understandings of cinematic technology and representation. In the area of Chinese cinema,  research on the intersections of film and music by scholars such as Andrew Jones, Sue Touhy, and Zhang Zhen has already made a firm case for the importance of understanding cinema as an inter-textual, multi-sensory medium, while also demonstrating how historical changes in sound technology have profoundly shaped the cinematic experience. In reviving the field of opera studies, Judith Zeitlin and others have opened up new perspectives on Chinese cinema’s imbrication in traditions of performance and changing idioms of live musical drama; such perspectives move beyond previous studies that have focused primarily on opera¹s communication of political and national ideologies. This growing body of research attests to the importance of music in mapping film¹s relationship with other cultural forms, and suggests future directions for the study of sound technology¹s role in the development of Chinese cinema.

This special issue of the Journal of Chinese Cinemas will bring together new sound-related topics and emerging scholarship.  The editors, Jean Ma and Matthew Johnson, would like to invite abstract submissions of 250-300 words for articles related to the special issue theme of “Sound and Music in Chinese Cinemas.”

Comparative, cross-regional, and interdisciplinary approaches are welcome. Our goal is to gather a diverse range of scholarly and practitioner views which will provide a coherent “map” of this theme by including perspectives drawn from studies of cultural texts, performance, technology, history, and various points along the production/exhibition/reception continuum.

 
The abstract should include:
* Your name, email address, institution, and mailing address.
* A description of an innovative approach to the study of sound and music in Chinese cinemas.  Possible topics may include (but are certainly not limited to): cross-medial and inter-medial investigations of film sound and music; the introduction of popular music and performance forms (e.g. vaudeville, cabaret jazz, opera) to a cinematic context; histories of cinematic sound technology; sound and genre; sound authorship and auteurship; interdisciplinary theoretical approaches to sound and music; historical studies of colonial and global (e.g. Cold War) geopolitics, economies, and “flows,” and the interplay between these forces and sound-related cinematic spectacle and practices.

Deadline for abstract submissions: 30 June 2012
Acceptance notice: 31 July 2012
Deadline for paper (6000-8000 words) submission: 31 October 2012
Anticipated publication date: Summer 2013

Abstract submissions (as MSWord documents by email attachment) to both:
Jean Ma (Stanford University): jeanma@stanford.edu
Matthew Johnson (Grinnell College): johnsonm@grinnell.edu

Contact for journal information:
Song Hwee Lim (Editor, Journal of Chinese Cinemas): S.H.Lim@exeter.ac.uk

Website for paper format:
See Notes for Contributors (.pdf file) at www.intellectbooks.co.uk

And pretty soon, it’ll have a face, too. According to Clifford Coonan of Variety, a $1.27 billion facility that will serve as a “co-production film financing platform, a co-production service center with post facilities, a facility for 3D conversion and a distribution and marketing center” is being constructed outside of Tianjin. The Chinawood behemoth, which is being built approximately a thirty-minute train ride outside central Beijing,

“is aimed at luring U.S. and other foreign productions and will provide a hub for co-productions, which are exempt from Chinese import quotas. Some 35% of the investment is earmarked for film financing.”

The question of “luring” Hollywood attention to China seems an easy game, as American producers look increasingly to China for box office numbers that elude American releases. The hurdle Hollywood must surpass to produce and distribute in China, of course, is government control of everything from content to distribution quotas, many of which are highlighted in a recent New York Times profile of the China Film Group and its director, the veritable overlord of the Chinese film industry, Han Sanping.

In The Guardian, Andrew Pulver writes of Chinawood:

Chinawood’s main aim will be to service co-productions between Hollywood and China – a move that will no doubt be popular among US producers, to get around China’s strict quota regulations.

By design, Chinawood will provide an infrastructure—both physically and institutionally—that allows both Chinese and American filmmakers to grab their piece of the pie. Certainly, Chinawood represents an immense investment that aims to provide American producers with the technical and political support to rake in Chinese box office revenues and also provide Chinese filmmakers with access to new talent, new audiences, and a new means to export filmmaking as “soft culture.” It’s a win-win, right?  In fact, the still rigid guidelines for the distribution of foreign films in China (even Chinawood’s co-productions) portend that those involved in productions in China may still face some formidable impediments in the shape of the China Film Group’s censorship policies. Writing for the Times, David Cieply and David Barboza report:

Co-productions with Chinese companies by foreign producers are subject to the authorization of the China Film Co-Production Company, a China Film Group unit, the report said.

Submission to the Chinese censors, who typically spend 15 to 30 business days reviewing a film and sometimes demand changes, again runs through the film group. Several of the largest theater chains, the commission found, were at least partly owned by the group.

Chinawood is slated to open in October 2012, when the particular dynamics of this co-production giant will become more apparent. The formulas to dual success in the land of US-China co-productions are largely untested and Chinawood may represent one of the boldest attempts to shape this future. Perhaps the elevation of Chinawood is ineluctable, though they might want to reconsider the name.