1428 (dir. Du Haibin)

In the newest issue of RealTime Arts Magazine, there is a rousing article by Dan Edwards on the significance of digital independent filmmaking in China. Here’s the opening passage:

While China’s political system remains deeply authoritarian, the country’s overwhelming size and explosive growth have opened cavernous gaps in the government’s control of culture, through which a new generation of DV-wielding documentary filmmakers has climbed.

Edwards profiles films such as Hu Jie’s In Search of Lin Zhao’s Soul, Ou Ning’s Meishi Street, and Du Haibin’s 1428 (editor: The latter two are distributed by dGenerate Films). He also interviews three notable figures in the contemporary digital filmmaking scene: producer/journalist David Bandurski (Ghost Town), artist/filmmaker Ou Ning and filmmaker/journalist Hu Jie. Here are some choice quotes from each:

Bandurski: “I’ve never heard an independent filmmaker in China ask themselves, ‘Can I do this?… Independent filmmaking is the freest avenue of expression that exists in China today.”

Ou: “Before, history only had one version—by the Chinese Communist Party… Now with digital technology history has different versions.”

Hu: “I knew very little about the history of the 1950s and 60s… While making Lin Zhao I had the sense that I was feeling around in the dark. Then I found the door of history, opened it and walked through. There I found a lot of ridiculous, cruel stories that really shocked me, and that was the motivation to go further.”

Read the complete article at RealTime Arts.

Find out more about Meishi Street, 1428, and Ghost Town.

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dGenerate's Kevin B. Lee discusses Chinese cinema to students at Swarthmore College

On March 30, 2010, dGenerate Films’ Kevin B. Lee gave a talk to students and faculty at Swarthmore College. The presentation, entitled “From the Fifth Generation to the dGeneration,” gave an introduction to  the wave of digital filmmaking currently prevalent in China, and how it emerged as a response to the Fifth and Sixth Generations of Chinese filmmakers. The talk discussed the films within social, historical, cultural and political contexts and introduced several representative films and directors. Lee also touched on issues such as audience responses both at home and abroad, financing and distribution, and censorship.

The talk was followed by a screening of Fujian Blue by Robin Weng. Highlights of the presentation can be viewed in the video below.

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.

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dGenerate Films is teaming up with the Apple Store in Beijing to present a new monthly series to showcase China’s newest filmmakers powered by digital technology. Digital tools, from digital video cameras to editing software, have placed filmmaking in the hands of the people. Listen and watch how award-winning directors use digital technology to create their latest movies, attracting worldwide attention and acclaim.

All events will be held at the Apple Store in Sanlitun, Beijing, starting at 7pm.

Events are listed below in English; scroll further to read them in Chinese.

On Feburary 17, join Peng Tao in conversation about LITTLE MOTH and FLOATING IN MEMORY. We will screen clips from both films, and then hear Peng Tao discuss the process of making films with Mac products. Peng Tao is the award-winning director of LITTLE MOTH (2007) and a graduate of the Art Department of Beijing Film Academy, where he received the Outstanding Short Film Award and first prize at the 1st JINZI Awards. Peng Tao’s second feature, FLOATING IN MEMORY (2009), is supported by the prestigious Sundance Institute Feature Film Program and the Hubert Bals Fund, and screened in the VPRO Tiger Awards Competition at the 2009 International Film Festival Rotterdam.

On February 18, join Cui Zi’en in conversation about how he uses Adobe and Final Cut Pro to make his groundbreaking digital video features. Cui Zi’en is a director, film scholar, screenwriter, and novelist based in Beijing. He is an associate professor at the Beijing Film Academy. Cui Zi’en is a premiere avant-garde digital filmmaker in China. He has published nine novels in China and Hong Kong, and he is also the author of books on criticism and theory, as well as a columnist for magazines.

On February 19, join Jian Yi in conversation about filming from villages to cities with Apple products. Jian Yi is an independent filmmaker, visual artist and writer. He is a finalist for the British Council’s 2007 International Young Film Entrepreneur of the Year award. He partnered with filmmaker Wu Wenguang to launch the China Villager Documentary Project. Jian’s photos on China’s village governance toured the nation’s seven provinces as well as Brussels and Strasburg. He has been a visiting fellow at Yale University, Cambridge University, the New School in New York, and the Asian Cultural Council.

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