Oxhide 2 (dir. Liu Jiayin)

Relevant Classroom Use

Super, Girls! (dir. Jian Yi)

Press Release from Viz Cinema:

VIZ CINEMA SPOTLIGHTS NEW CHINESE FILM MOVEMENT IN CHINA UNDERGROUND OPENING IN DECEMBER

7 Films Over 3 Days Offer A View of China as Never Seen Before

VIZ Cinema and NEW PEOPLE, in association with dGenerate Films, are proud to present a fascinating series focusing on a new vanguard of Chinese independent filmmakers, whose innovative uses of digital filmmaking deliver provocative insights into the world’s largest nation. The China Underground film series opens Friday, December 3^rd and runs through Sunday, December 5^th. Tickets and complete details are available at: www.vizcinema.com.

All of the documentary films to be shown at the festival were made outside the official Chinese film system – unauthorized, uncensored, and totally independent. These groundbreaking films introduce a new generation of filmmakers who represent the future of Chinese cinema, using new technology to present a vision of China as never seen before. A wide variety of controversial topics and issues like homosexuality, the role of women in society, the forced relocation of citizens which preceded the 2008 Beijing Olympics, drug use, and the inner workings of Chinese law enforcement, are examined in unflinching detail in these seven films.

China Underground opens Friday December 3^rd with the premiere of Queer China, “Comrade” China at 7:00pm. The screening will include a Q&A session with several guest speakers and an after-party that will immediately follow. The remaining films will be screened throughout the weekend.

“These brave filmmakers often risk arrest, imprisonment, censure, or worse in order to have their work seen and message heard,” says Manami Iiboshi, programming director of VIZ Cinema. “San Francisco is a bastion of socially conscious and progressive ideas and it’s an honor to give a platform uncensored looks at a variety of important issues going on within Chinese society that are usually kept hidden from the West.”

“We are thrilled to showcase seven of our titles at VIZ Cinema in China Underground, the first film series of its kind,” says Karin Chien, president of dGenerate Films. “Independent documentaries are the only free media existing in mainland China today. There is a new generation of filmmakers, artists, and activists wielding digital cameras and laptop edit systems, creating some of the most daring cinema in the world today. These films will have a special relevance and resonance with the diverse communities of the Bay Area.”

Queer China, ‘Comrade’ China
Friday, 12/3 at 7:00pm

(Directed by Cui Zi’en, China, 2008, 60min, Mandarin with English subtitles)

China’s most prolific queer filmmaker presents a comprehensive historical account of the queer movement in modern China. Unlike any before, this film explores the historical milestones and ongoing advocacy efforts of the Chinese LGBT community. Preceded by a screening of Digital Underground in the People’s Republic (18 mins, Dir: Rachel Tejada), a look at the Chinese independent film scene as documented firsthand by dGenerate Films Tickets are $15.00.

Super, Girls!
Saturday, 12/4 at 1:00pm

(Directed by Jian Yi, China, 2007, Documentary, 73min. Mandarin with English subtitles)

SUPER, GIRLS! follows ten teenagers on their quest to become superstars on China’s biggest tv show. Through candid interviews and footage of nail-biting auditions, SUPER, GIRLS! offers a fascinating look inside what the Chinese media have dubbed “the Lost Generation.”

Tickets are $10.00.

Meishi Street
Saturday, 12/4 at 2:45pm

(Directed by Ou Ning, China, 2006, Documentary, 85min, Mandarin with English subtitles)

MEISHI STREET shows ordinary citizens taking a stand against the planned destruction of their homes for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Acclaimed at over two dozen museums and galleries around the world, Meishi Street, by renowned visual artist Ou Ning, works as both art and activism, calling worldwide attention to lives being demolished in the name of progress. Tickets are $10.00.

Using
Saturday, 12/4 at 4:45pm

(Directed by Zhou Hao, China, 2008, Documentary, 105min, Mandarin with English subtitles)

A twisted relationship develops between an urban Chinese couple struggling with heroin and a filmmaker chronicling their addiction, in this provocative documentary on drug abuse, filmmaking and friendship. Zhou’s unflinching depiction of his friends’ repeated attempts to quit blurs the line between filmmaker and subject, and raises provocative questions about the ways in which each uses the other. Tickets are $10.00.

Ghost Town
Saturday, 12/4 at 7:15pm

(Directed by Zhao Dayong, China, 2008, Documentary, 169min, Mandarin, Nu, & Lisu dialects with English subtitles)

Zhiziluo is a town barely clinging to life. Tucked away in a rugged corner of Southwest China, the village is haunted by traces of China’s cultural past while its residents piece together a day-by-day existence. “Directed with scrupulous attention to detail” (Manohla Dargis, New York Times), Ghost Town, which debuted at the New York Film Festival, “is one of the most important films to have emerged from the booming (but still unexplored) field of Chinese independent documentaries (Dennis Lim, Moving Image Source). Tickets are $10.00.

1428
Sunday, 12/5 at 1:00pm

(Directed by Du Haibin, China, 2009, Documentary, 117min. Mandarin and Sichuan dialects w/ English subtitles)

Du Haibin’s award-winning documentary of the earthquake that devastated China’s Sichuan province in 2008 explores how victims, citizens and government respond to a national tragedy. Du depicts a world in chaos, both material and moral. “Without judgment but with a deep compassion for their subjects, the filmmakers of 1428 bring us a myriad of individual stories of absurdity, confusion and grief.”(Cherise Fong, CNN).  Tickets are $10.00.

Crime and Punishment
Sunday, 12/5 at 3:30 pm

(Directed by Zhao Liang, China, 2007, Documentary, 122min, Mandarin with English subtitles)

“Zhao’s artistry is instantly apparent.” (Robert Koehler, Variety)

A prime example of how independent documentaries are on the vanguard of Chinese cinema, Crime and Punishment is an unprecedented look at the everyday workings of law enforcement in the world’s largest authoritarian society. With penetrating camerawork, Zhao Liang (Petition, 2009 Cannes Film Festival) patiently reveals the methods police use to interrogate and coerce suspects to confess crimes – and the consequences when such techniques backfire. Tickets are $10.00.

Before the Flood
Sunday, 12/5 at 5:45pm

(Directed by Li Yifan and Yan Yu, China, 2005, Documentary, 147min. Mandarin and Sichuan dialects with English subtitles)

A landmark documentary following the residents of the historic city of Fengjie as they clash with officials forcing them to evacuate their homes to make way for the world’s largest dam. Shot over two years, Before the Flood is a breathtaking achievement in verité-style documentary filmmaking. This profound film shows the human effects of one of history’s grandest social engineering projects, reflecting on the loss of both home and heritage.  Tickets are $10.00.

—————

VIZ Cinema is the nation’s only movie theatre devoted exclusively to Japanese film and anime. The 143-seat subterranean theatre is located in the basement of the NEW PEOPLE building and features plush seating, digital as well as 35mm projection, and a THX^®-certified sound system.

About NEW PEOPLE

NEW PEOPLE offers the latest films, art, fashion and retail brands from Japan and is the creative vision of the J-Pop Center Project and VIZ Pictures, a distributor and producer of Japanese live action film. Located at 1746 Post Street, the 20,000 square foot structure features a striking 3-floor transparent glass façade that frames a fun and exotic new environment to engage the imagination into the 21^st Century. A dedicated web site is also now available at: www.NewPeopleWorld.com.

About dGenerate Films

dGenerate Films is the only specialty distributor of Chinese independent films in North America. dGenerate Films combines pioneering relationships in China with a groundbreaking online platform Reframe, a joint venture between Amazon and Tribeca Film Institute, to distribute previously inaccessible media to U.S. audiences.

Relevant Classroom Use

Huang Weikai

From now until March 2011, director Huang Weikai will be available for screenings and lectures in the United States. Huang’s latest film Disorder is a groundbreaking work of experimental documentary that has won prizes and screened at festivals around the world. The Atlantic calls it “one of the most mesmerizing films I’ve seen in ages!”

If you are interested in bringing Disorder and Huang Weikai to your institution or university for a screening, Q&A or guest lecture, please contact exhibitions *at* dgeneratefilms *dot* com.

BIOGRAPHY

Huang Weikai was born in 1972 in Guangdong Province, China. He studied Chinese painting for 15 years and graduated from the Chinese Art Department of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. He used to work as a cinema promoter, art editor, graphic designer, movie script writer and cameraman. Since 2002, he has been directing independent films. His 2009 found-footage documentary, Disorder has been acclaimed as “One of the most mesmerizing films I’ve seen in ages” by Hua Hsu in The Atlantic for its unflinching look at the absurdity and anarchy of urban life in contemporary China.

SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY

Disorder
2009, 58 min, documentary

- 2008 Asian Network of Documentary Fund Project (13th PIFF)
- 2009 Young Jury Special mention Award of 31nd Cinema du Reel International Documentary Film Festival, France
- 2009 PRIX RED Award of the 24th Belfort International Film Festival, France
- 2009 Jury Special mention Award of 4th Yunnan Multi Culture Visual Festival, China
- Official selection at the 52nd International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film, Germany, 2009
- Official selection at the 11th Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, the New Asian Currents program, Japan, 2009
- Official selection at the 16th Hot Docs Canadian International Film Festival, Canada, 2010
- Official selection at the 6th Play-Doc International Documentary Film Festival, Spain, 2010
- Official selection at the 7th Planete Doc Review Film Festival, Poland, 2010
- Official selection at the 3rd Chongqing Independent Film & Video Festival, China, 2009
- 14th Pusan International Film Festival, Korea, 2009
- 49th Krakow Film Festival, Poland, 2009
- 6th China Documentary Film Festival, China, 2009
- 6th China Independent Film Festival, China, 2009
- 9th DocPoint – Helsinki Documentary Film Festival, Finland, 2010
- 2010 True/False Film Fest, America
- 2010 Black Movie Festival, Switzerland
- 12th Sarasota Film Festival, America, 2010

Floating (Piao)
2005, 93 min, documentary

- 2005 Black Pottery Prize and Audience Award of Yunnan Multi Culture Visual Festival, China
- 2006 New Filmmaker Award of the 3rd Reel China Documentary Biennial, New York, Shanghai
- The 30th Hong Kong International Film Festival
- The 3rd China Independent Film Festival
- The 11th Umbria Film Festival (Italy)

Bin Laden’s Body Could Be Nothing But a Copy (Ladan de Shiti Zhineng Shi Yifen Kaobei)
2002, 23 min, short

- The 29th HongKong International Film Festival
- Never Go Out Without My DVcam-Video art from China- Museo Colecciones ICO, Madrid

Relevant Classroom Use

Super, Girls! (dir. Jian Yi)

Press Release from Viz Cinema:

VIZ CINEMA SPOTLIGHTS NEW CHINESE FILM MOVEMENT IN CHINA UNDERGROUND OPENING IN DECEMBER

7 Films Over 3 Days Offer A View of China as Never Seen Before

VIZ Cinema and NEW PEOPLE, in association with dGenerate Films, are proud to present a fascinating series focusing on a new vanguard of Chinese independent filmmakers, whose innovative uses of digital filmmaking deliver provocative insights into the world’s largest nation. The China Underground film series opens Friday, December 3^rd and runs through Sunday, December 5^th. Tickets and complete details are available at: www.vizcinema.com.

All of the documentary films to be shown at the festival were made outside the official Chinese film system – unauthorized, uncensored, and totally independent. These groundbreaking films introduce a new generation of filmmakers who represent the future of Chinese cinema, using new technology to present a vision of China as never seen before. A wide variety of controversial topics and issues like homosexuality, the role of women in society, the forced relocation of citizens which preceded the 2008 Beijing Olympics, drug use, and the inner workings of Chinese law enforcement, are examined in unflinching detail in these seven films.

China Underground opens Friday December 3^rd with the premiere of Queer China, “Comrade” China at 7:00pm. The screening will include a Q&A session with several guest speakers and an after-party that will immediately follow. The remaining films will be screened throughout the weekend.

“These brave filmmakers often risk arrest, imprisonment, censure, or worse in order to have their work seen and message heard,” says Manami Iiboshi, programming director of VIZ Cinema. “San Francisco is a bastion of socially conscious and progressive ideas and it’s an honor to give a platform uncensored looks at a variety of important issues going on within Chinese society that are usually kept hidden from the West.”

“We are thrilled to showcase seven of our titles at VIZ Cinema in China Underground, the first film series of its kind,” says Karin Chien, president of dGenerate Films. “Independent documentaries are the only free media existing in mainland China today. There is a new generation of filmmakers, artists, and activists wielding digital cameras and laptop edit systems, creating some of the most daring cinema in the world today. These films will have a special relevance and resonance with the diverse communities of the Bay Area.”

Queer China, ‘Comrade’ China
Friday, 12/3 at 7:00pm

(Directed by Cui Zi’en, China, 2008, 60min, Mandarin with English subtitles)

China’s most prolific queer filmmaker presents a comprehensive historical account of the queer movement in modern China. Unlike any before, this film explores the historical milestones and ongoing advocacy efforts of the Chinese LGBT community. Preceded by a screening of Digital Underground in the People’s Republic (18 mins, Dir: Rachel Tejada), a look at the Chinese independent film scene as documented firsthand by dGenerate Films Tickets are $15.00.

Super, Girls!
Saturday, 12/4 at 1:00pm

(Directed by Jian Yi, China, 2007, Documentary, 73min. Mandarin with English subtitles)

SUPER, GIRLS! follows ten teenagers on their quest to become superstars on China’s biggest tv show. Through candid interviews and footage of nail-biting auditions, SUPER, GIRLS! offers a fascinating look inside what the Chinese media have dubbed “the Lost Generation.”

Tickets are $10.00.

Meishi Street
Saturday, 12/4 at 2:45pm

(Directed by Ou Ning, China, 2006, Documentary, 85min, Mandarin with English subtitles)

MEISHI STREET shows ordinary citizens taking a stand against the planned destruction of their homes for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Acclaimed at over two dozen museums and galleries around the world, Meishi Street, by renowned visual artist Ou Ning, works as both art and activism, calling worldwide attention to lives being demolished in the name of progress. Tickets are $10.00.

Using
Saturday, 12/4 at 4:45pm

(Directed by Zhou Hao, China, 2008, Documentary, 105min, Mandarin with English subtitles)

A twisted relationship develops between an urban Chinese couple struggling with heroin and a filmmaker chronicling their addiction, in this provocative documentary on drug abuse, filmmaking and friendship. Zhou’s unflinching depiction of his friends’ repeated attempts to quit blurs the line between filmmaker and subject, and raises provocative questions about the ways in which each uses the other. Tickets are $10.00.

Ghost Town
Saturday, 12/4 at 7:15pm

(Directed by Zhao Dayong, China, 2008, Documentary, 169min, Mandarin, Nu, & Lisu dialects with English subtitles)

Zhiziluo is a town barely clinging to life. Tucked away in a rugged corner of Southwest China, the village is haunted by traces of China’s cultural past while its residents piece together a day-by-day existence. “Directed with scrupulous attention to detail” (Manohla Dargis, New York Times), Ghost Town, which debuted at the New York Film Festival, “is one of the most important films to have emerged from the booming (but still unexplored) field of Chinese independent documentaries (Dennis Lim, Moving Image Source). Tickets are $10.00.

1428
Sunday, 12/5 at 1:00pm

(Directed by Du Haibin, China, 2009, Documentary, 117min. Mandarin and Sichuan dialects w/ English subtitles)

Du Haibin’s award-winning documentary of the earthquake that devastated China’s Sichuan province in 2008 explores how victims, citizens and government respond to a national tragedy. Du depicts a world in chaos, both material and moral. “Without judgment but with a deep compassion for their subjects, the filmmakers of 1428 bring us a myriad of individual stories of absurdity, confusion and grief.”(Cherise Fong, CNN).  Tickets are $10.00.

Crime and Punishment
Sunday, 12/5 at 3:30 pm

(Directed by Zhao Liang, China, 2007, Documentary, 122min, Mandarin with English subtitles)

“Zhao’s artistry is instantly apparent.” (Robert Koehler, Variety)

A prime example of how independent documentaries are on the vanguard of Chinese cinema, Crime and Punishment is an unprecedented look at the everyday workings of law enforcement in the world’s largest authoritarian society. With penetrating camerawork, Zhao Liang (Petition, 2009 Cannes Film Festival) patiently reveals the methods police use to interrogate and coerce suspects to confess crimes – and the consequences when such techniques backfire. Tickets are $10.00.

Before the Flood
Sunday, 12/5 at 5:45pm

(Directed by Li Yifan and Yan Yu, China, 2005, Documentary, 147min. Mandarin and Sichuan dialects with English subtitles)

A landmark documentary following the residents of the historic city of Fengjie as they clash with officials forcing them to evacuate their homes to make way for the world’s largest dam. Shot over two years, Before the Flood is a breathtaking achievement in verité-style documentary filmmaking. This profound film shows the human effects of one of history’s grandest social engineering projects, reflecting on the loss of both home and heritage.  Tickets are $10.00.

—————

VIZ Cinema is the nation’s only movie theatre devoted exclusively to Japanese film and anime. The 143-seat subterranean theatre is located in the basement of the NEW PEOPLE building and features plush seating, digital as well as 35mm projection, and a THX^®-certified sound system.

About NEW PEOPLE

NEW PEOPLE offers the latest films, art, fashion and retail brands from Japan and is the creative vision of the J-Pop Center Project and VIZ Pictures, a distributor and producer of Japanese live action film. Located at 1746 Post Street, the 20,000 square foot structure features a striking 3-floor transparent glass façade that frames a fun and exotic new environment to engage the imagination into the 21^st Century. A dedicated web site is also now available at: www.NewPeopleWorld.com.

About dGenerate Films

dGenerate Films is the only specialty distributor of Chinese independent films in North America. dGenerate Films combines pioneering relationships in China with a groundbreaking online platform Reframe, a joint venture between Amazon and Tribeca Film Institute, to distribute previously inaccessible media to U.S. audiences.

Relevant Classroom Use

Film Director Yang Jin

dGenerate Films and the Apple Store in Beijing continue their ongoing series showcasing China’s newest filmmakers powered by digital technology. Next Tuesday, November 2, acclaimed digital filmmaker Yang Jin will show clips from his films and discuss his creative process.

Yang Jin’s talk is part of the series “Meet the Filmmakers,” a collaboration between the Apple Store in Beijing and dGenerate Films. Digital tools, from digital video cameras to editing software, have placed filmmaking in the hands of the people. This series introduces award-winning directors discuss with the general public how they use digital technology to create their latest movies, attracting worldwide attention and acclaim.

Read news coverage of the inaugural “Meet the Filmmakers” events, and watch video from previous Apple Store talks with filmmakers Cui Zi’en, Jian Yi and Peng Tao.

Corrected: This event will be held at the Apple Store in Xidan Joy City (NOT Sanlitun), Beijing, starting at 7pm.

Address: North Street, Xicheng District, Beijing Xidan Joy City. Phone:  131(8610) 6649-1400

Yang Jin was born in 1982 in Shanxi. In 2000, he enrolled in the Shanxi Film School’s photography program. In 2003, he enrolled in the College of Art And Communication at Beijing Normal University, where he majored in directing. He made a few of documentaries and some short feature films during his time there. Yang’s first film The Black and White Milk Cow (2004) won the Ecumenical Jury Award and FICC Jury/Don Quijote Prize of the International Federation of Film Societies at the 19th Fribourg International Film Festival. His second feature Er Dong screened at the Pusan, Rotterdam and Hong Kong Film Festivals.

Relevant Classroom Use

MUBI is known for its role in giving film enthusiasts an indispensible resource for learning about cinema, through its online rental service, the MUBI Notebook filled with articles, reviews and festival reports, and its robust virtual community.  We are proud that our films are becoming part of this important vehicle for cinema enthusiasts.

Listed below are these new titles on MUBI. One-time viewing on their site is priced at $3.00.

Using

Betelnut

Meishi Street

Crime and Punishment

Er Dong

The Other Half

San Yuan Li

Super, Girls!

Little Moth

Raised from the Dust

Relevant Classroom Use

Yi Yi (dir. Edward Yang)

The result of Fun Screen’s poll came close to ours: Yi Yi, which ranked no. 4 in dGenerate Films’ top-10 list, clinched the no. 1 position in Fun Screen’s top-10 list; and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, which ranked no. 9 in our list, came second there. These films were first and second among Taiwanese films in the dGenerate poll.

The introduction of the poll acknowledged the results of the dGenerate poll in inspiring the poll of Taiwanese films: “At Fun Screen, we do not wish to challenge the list, but the list has made us acutely aware of the fact that Taiwanese films still lack a great deal of international recognition.”

As noted by Lin Wenqi, the chief editor of Fun Screen, “the goal of their poll is not about which film ranks higher than another, but is part of an effort to recognize and celebrate local film talent over the past decade. Fun Screen also just recently published 28 special reports with famous Taiwanese film directors over the past 10 years in a book called The Voices from Taiwanese Films.

The results of the Fun Screen poll can be found after the break.

1. Yi Yi (Edward Yang)
2. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee)
3. Lust, Caution (Ang Lee)
4. What Time is it There? (Tsai Ming-liang)
5. Cafe Lumiere (Hou Hsiao-hsien)
6. Three Times (Hou Hsiao-hsien)
7. No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti (Leon Dai)
8. Blue Gate Crossing (Yee Chih-yen)
9. Goodbye Dragon Inn (Tsai Ming-liang)
10. Cape No. 7 (Wei Te-sheng)
11. Orz Boys (Yang Ya-che)
12. Winds of September (Tom Lin Shu-yu)
13. The Best of Times (Chang Tso-chi)
14. I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone (Tsai Ming-liang)
15. Flight of the Red Balloon (Hou Hsiao-hsien)
16. The Wayward Cloud (Tsai Ming-liang)
17. Millennium Mambo (Hou Hsiao-hsien)
18. Parking (Chung Mong-hong)
19. Face (Tsai Ming-liang)
20. Let the Wind Carry Me (Chiang Hsiu-chiung, Kwan Pun-leung)

Special thanks to Brian Hu for forwarding the article and list.

Relevant Classroom Use

The feature is not available online, but we’ve secured permission to make it available as a downloadable .pdf on the dGenerate website. You can download the feature here. Thanks to Nicola Davison at Time Out Shanghai.

dGenerate Films is the proud distributor of films from five of the “Magnificent Seven.” Learn more about their films by clicking on the following titles:

Liu Jiayin: Oxhide

Ying Liang: Taking Father Home; The Other Half

Yang Heng: Betelnut

Zhao Liang: Crime and Punishment

Zhao Dayong: Ghost Town

Relevant Classroom Use

Kevin Lee (center) with students of Swarthmore College (photo by Shiyin Lin)

Last month dGenerate Films’ Kevin B. Lee gave a presentation and screening to students and faculty at Swarthmore College. Alex Ho, student organizer of the event, provided the following testimonial:

Many thanks for coming to Swarthmore College to speak about the growth in independent Chinese cinema over the past decade and what your company dGenerate Films is doing to help this movement gain greater exposure. Your talk was of great interest to our varied audience, which included film studies and Chinese studies students and faculty as well as the general liberal arts student who attended on a whim.

As an admirer of your work in online film criticism, I was excited to bring to our college your take on what makes this particular moment in film history so groundbreaking and important, given your extensive knowledge of and passion for world cinema. Your talk certainly didn’t disappoint; it was an accessible, sweeping introduction to Chinese cinema and its place in the foreign film market. At the same time, for even those more familiar with Chinese film, your talk was a priceless look into the works of up-and-coming independent filmmakers that most of the film world doesn’t yet seem to have caught on to. You definitely tapped into our school’s affinity for small-scale, relaxed seminars, peppering your talk with interesting anecdotes and seriously considering questions from our audience about the pertinence of the “dGenerate movement” to the general public in the U.S. and China. Thanks also for having an informal dinner with some of our students and letting us pick your brain about a multitude of topics within and outside of Chinese cinema.

Again, it was a pleasure to bring your presentation to Swarthmore. I hope to see your talk reach more and larger college audiences in the future. Certainly, any university interested in covering Chinese film in its curriculum, shouldn’t limit themselves to the well-known Fifth and Sixth Generation, but look also to the less Beijing-centric films that dGenerate Films works to distribute.

Best,

Alex Ho

dGenerate Films organizes presentations and screenings at colleges, museums and other institutions across the country. For more information, please contact info *at* dgeneratefilms *dot* com.

Relevant Classroom Use

The Iberia Center for Contemporary Art, Home of the Chinese Independent Film Archive (Photo courtesy of Iberia Center of Contemporary Art)

By Shelly Kraicer

Whenever I am interviewed about Chinese independent cinema, the question that comes up more often than anything else is “Can these kind of films be shown in China?”

The situation is changing, rapidly, and in substantial ways. The answer used to be “Yes, sort of”.  Now, it’s “Yes, most definitely”.

Independent films, i.e. films made outside the government censorship system, can’t be shown in regular commercial movie theatres.  When I arrived in Beijing back in 2003, one had to do a bit of investigative work to find screenings; at art galleries, a few bars and cafes, and occasionally on university campuses: all low- to zero-profile events.  Now, though, there is, if not exactly a profusion, then something like a blossoming of screening opportunities for “unauthorized” Chinese indie films.

One such event, which I attended in early April, provides a handy opportunity to sketch out a provisional, though hopefully not too superficial overview of the Chinese independent film scene.

The Chinese Independent Film Archive (CIFA) organized their first annual film festival from 29 March to 19 April this year.  Called “What Has Been Happening Here”, the festival took place in the CIFA’s headquarters at the Iberia Center for Contemporary Art, in Beijing’s 798 Art District.

The comprehensive exhibition was well organized and impressively curated.  There were several sections: one featured screenings of new Chinese independent DV films; one provided a smartly chosen and extremely useful overview of the history of Chinese DV films from its origins in the 1990s to now; one provided a retrospective of films made by Jia Zhangke’s company XStream Films, and the directors associated with it (Jia himself, his regular d.p. Yu Lik-wai, Emily Tang, and Han Jie); and a final section offered selections from the last ten years of experimental/avant garde DV work.  Accompanying these screenings, which ran morning to evenings daily for 21 days, was an exhibit in the Iberia Center capacious gallery space that surveyed the indie film scene in China today.  It highlighted the six key organizations involved in producing, distributing, and exhibiting the films, with supporting documentation, videos, artifacts, and a rich selection of materials.  The institutions featured were:

• Chinese Independent Film Festival (CIFF)
• Fanhall Films
• Li Xianting’s Film Fund
• Beijing Indie Workshop
• Caochangdi Workstation
• Yunnan Multi Culture Visual Festival (Yunfest)

First, a word about CIFA itself.  It is a non-profit academic institution, founded in 2008, devoted to “sorting, collecting, and promoting” contemporary Chinese independent films.  The CIFA underlines that it is a non-governmental film archive, in implicit distinction to the PRC’s China Film Archive, the very official, bureaucratic national institution devoted to safeguarding official, approved Chinese cinema.  The CIFA’s director, Zhang Yaxuan, is an expert on Chinese independent documentaries and a film maker and producer herself.  The facilities of CIFA within the Iberia Art Centre at 798 include a spanking new screening room of 79 comfortable seats.  The excellent projection and sound equipment — the finest yet that I’ve encountered in a Chinese non-commercial venue — suggests that the CIFA is well enough funded not to skimp on necessities.  The screenings themselves were well-run (though there was occasional trouble getting the projection ratios right, necessitating your correspondent dashing to the projection booth to discuss the accuracy of the watermelon-shaped heads on screen).

The Chinese Independent Film Festival was founded in 2003.  It is located in elegantly livable, gracious Nanjing, one of China’s most important intellectual centres, and features an annual festival of all genres of Chinese independent cinema (features, documentaries, shorts).  CIFF has since 2007 instituted a juried competition section.  Run in conjunction with the Nanjing RCM Art Museum, the CIFF uses a variety of venues around Nanjing to show an excellent selection of what their programmers (including Zhang Xianmin and Cao Kai) consider to be the year’s best Chinese indie films, based on their mission to support “independent spirit, openness, inventive in form, forward thinking” cinema.  I’ve attended the 2007 edition, which offered a relatively low-key but well-attended series of concurrent screenings over about a week (in 2008 the festival took place in late September).  The discussions after the films, and among the filmmakers, though, were anything but low key: the festival cultivates a real sense of intellectual energy and ferment.

Fanhall Films, run by Zhu Rikun, is a multi-faceted indie film support organization based in Songzhuang Arts District, a distant eastern suburb of Beijing.  Fanhall started as a website and online discussion forum and has broadened into film production and distribution.  They have produced a series of indie films, released (authorized) DVDs in China of unauthorized films (a neat trick, and a good subject for a later post), and sponsor the China Documentary Film Festival and the Beijing Independent Film Festival (each annually, in Songzhuang).  They also constructed, last year, a comfortable medium-sized screening room, above which is a spacious cafe and small exhibition space.  The trip out to Songzhuang is long (a grueling 2 hours plus by bus from the centre of Beijing), but Zhu Rikun and his staff take advantage of the community feel provided by the artists village at Songzhuang, and invite directors to spend the week during their festivals.  Community-building is a vital part of their agenda.  For more detail on the 2008 version, see my first blog entry.

Also based at Songzhuang, and closely supporting Fanhall’s film exhibition events, is the Li Xianting Film Fund.  The fund was started in 2006 by the famous art critic Li Xianting, who raises funds from artists, now outrageously prosperous in the international art market, whom he supported in the 1980s and 90s.  The fund is building an archive of independent films to support the work of researchers and filmmakers, publishes a journal, and provides grants for the development, production, and post-production of new film projects.  It also co-presents the Beijing Independent Film Festival and the China Documentary Film Festival with Fanhall Films.

Beijing Indie Workshop was founded by Beijing Film Academy professor Zhang Xianmin in 2005.  A non-profit organization supporting indie filmmakers, Indie Workshop provides equipment and post-production facilities for impecunious filmmakers, produces films, and organizes a continuing series of informal screenings and rigorous discussions of recent works (I’ve been fortunate to attend a few, which combine an intellectual salon flavour with organized film appreciation — participants are encouraged to fill out scorecards and give ratings for each film screened).  It also works to connect new filmmakers and films with foreign festivals, curators, and researchers.

Caochangdi Workstation was founded in 2005 by documentary filmmaker and theoretician Wu Wenguang.  It is made up of his Documentary Studio, the Living Dance Studio, and the Beijing Storm Company.  It provides a space for video and performance art, supports the work of filmmakers, and hosts a series of film, video, and performance exhibitions and festivals at its space in Caochangdi, a suburb of Beijing close to the 798 Arts District.  This year, CCD are hosting a May Festival of performance (works from their 2009 Young Choreographers’ Project) and film (a Documentary Forum).  CCD’s workshops include support for an ongoing series of films called the Villager Documentary Project (documentaries made by people living in Chinese villages, provided with technical and organizational support by CCD Workstation).

The Yunnan Multi Culture Visual Festival was launched in 2003, and is bi-annual.  It’s a documentary film festival based in Kunming, Yunnan, featuring screenings of Chinese and foreign documentaries, a documentary competition, and seminars bringing together Chinese and foreign documentary filmmakers.  Yunfest was founded with a strong anthropological-documentary film bent, and still has a section devoted to these films.

I’m tempted to try to compare the programming philosophies of the various festivals, but hesitate to generalize without enough data.  So I only offer this as a very tentative, provisional sketch, and really invite comment or correction (see the comment link below).  BIFF/CDFF tend, I’d say, to emphasize the political role of cinema, film as social critique and as agent for social/political change.  They are willing to push the edge, sometimes quite a bit, on political content, though are savvy about keeping a low enough profile to get away with some programming risks.  CIFF in Nanjing, while supporting these films too, seems to put equal or greater emphasis on film as art, and championing films that are formally innovative and  aesthetically risky.  CIFA, at least in its first incarnation, builds a historical context, and has an interest in defining something like a canon of Chinese independent cinema.  But I’m really reluctant to over-generalize, and genuinely welcome suggestions on how to clarify the above suggestions.

Chinese film events are obsessively self-documenting: there’s always at least one person from the organization filming everything that goes on.  So that’s good news if you are doing research in the field; there should be resources available if you want to follow Q&As, panel discussions, and directors’ comments from any of the events.  It’s not quite like being there, though.  One does have to attend these festivals to really get a sense of the ferment, energy, seriousness (lots of seriousness) and dedication that the small communities of Chinese filmmakers and their supporters bring to their activities.  Which, in this time of slumps (both economic and creative, cinematically speaking), is a terrifically encouraging thing.

Relevant Classroom Use