dGenerate Films Newsletter: June 2010

In celebration of the summer and the end of the school year, we are offering a sale though the end of June — 15% off any dGenerate title ordered before June 30! We hope that you will consider rounding out your DVD libraries with dGenerate titles and support the invaluable work that our filmmakers are doing to created uncensored perspectives on contemporary Chinese society. Contact us to order and mention the discount, you’ve got a week!

Now is also the time to start thinking about your Fall film series’ and bringing one of our indie Chinese films to your venue. With enough time and planning, our filmmakers are also available to come out and visit as well.

And for those of you home viewers, most of our films are available online for viewing through Amazon and Indieflix for $5 a film. Visit the respective page for each film on our catalog page and you’ll find links to view them.

As always, contact as any time, for any reason. Visit our latest film catalog here. Thanks for your support!

Welcome,

Ariella Tai

Manager, Operations & Sales
(646) 360-0343 / info@dgeneratefilms.com
http://dgeneratefilms.com
Twitter: @dgeneratefilms
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/dGenerate-Films/61032165931

NEW TITLES AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER

• As the summer begins, dGenerate Films is happy to announce that we are preparing to release a 3rd round of titles on DVD and VOD, all of which are now available to be pre-ordered for educational DVD and are currently available for public performance
  • Using (Long Ge) - directed by Zhou Hao
  • Crime and Punishment (Zui Yu Fa) – directed by Zhao Liang
  • Street Life (Nanjing Lu) – directed by Zhao Dayong
  • We are the … of Communism (Wo Men Shi Gong Chan Zhu Yi Sheng Lue Hao) - directed by Cui Zi’en
  • Fujian Blue (Jin Bi Hui Huang) – directed by Robin Weng
  • Dong – directed by Jia Zhangke
  • Black and White Milk Cow (Yi Zhi Hua Nai Niu) – directed by Yang Jin

DU HAIBIN’S 1428 FEATURED AT LA FILM FESTIVAL

• Currently making its way around the festival circuit and available for exhibition screenings is Venice Film Festival Best Documentary 1428. A powerful look at the reality facing survivors of the Sichuan earthquake in 2008, Du Haibin’s film recently was picked as “Best of the Los Angeles Film Festival” by LA Weekly critic Karina Longworth.
• Film scholar and Cal Arts professor Bernice Reynaud recently reviewed 1428 in Senses of Cinema, along with Oxhide and Queer China, ‘Comrade China’, amongst other contemporary Chinese films
• CNN also took a behind-the-scenes look at 1428

“THE MAGNIFICENT 7″ OF CHINESE INDIE FILMMAKING

• The latest issue of Time Out Shanghai highlights “The Seven Hottest Directors in China”: Ying Liang, Yang Heng, Zhao Liang, Liu Jiayin, Zhao Dayong, Zhao Ye, and Wei Tie. The feature interviews all seven of the directors, as well as dGenerate President Karin Chien. dGenerate proudly offers titles from five of the seven directors named in the article as “directors to watch.” You can download the full article at the dGenerate website.

NEW ACQUISITIONS

• We are excited for the recent addition of Huang Weikai’s Disorder to our catalog, as well as Liu Jiayin’s long-awaited sequel to Oxhide, Oxhide 2. Please contact exhibitions@dgeneratefilms.com if you are interested in bringing these films to your city or university!

FOLLOW US

• The best way to keep tabs on all the up-to-the-minute happenings in the underground Chinese film world is by following us on Twitter, Facebook, and through our blog’s RSS feed. Stay in touch!

Relevant Classroom Use

• Ghost Town’s week run at the MoMA, as well as glowing Ghost Town reviews from A.O. Scott of the NY Times, Village Voice & Time Out
• Our new partnership with Indieflix, who will be selling institutional DVD & home VOD for our titles
• Venice Prize-winning 1428’s US premiere at the MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight
• Top Ten Chinese film of the decade Oxhide released on institutional DVD
• dGenerate Films at the Assoc. of Asian Studies conference in March
• New titles on their way, including Jia Zhangke’s Dong, Zhao Liang’s Crime and Punishment, and Robin Weng’s Fujian Blue
• Other dGenerate highlights, including President Karin Chien’s Independent Spirit Award
• Upcoming screenings of dGenerate Films

To receive our email newsletter, sign up for it in the box on the right hand side of this page.  To read this month’s newsletter, click here.

Relevant Classroom Use

• First mention of new titles on their way, including Jia Zhangke’s Dong, Zhao Liang’s Crime and Punishment, and Yu Guangyi’s Timber Gang/Last Lumberjacks
• The Top Chinese Films of the 2000s poll we conducted
• Details on an upcoming series of dGenerate filmmaker talks at the Apple store in Beijing
• Some upcoming exhibition screenings in New York, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis
• The Toronto Star‘s article on “How China is Using Art to Sell Itself to the World”

Read it online here!  And to receive your very own copy of upcoming email newsletters, sign up on the form on the right sidebar of this page!

Relevant Classroom Use

It’s been a busy season for dGenerate Films, as we prepare to acquire a third round of China’s best independent cinema. Some of the new titles forthcoming include Jia Zhangke’s Dong, Zhao Dayong’s Street Life, Yang Jin’s Black and White Milk Cow, Robin Weng’s Fujian Blue, Yu Guangyi’s Last Lumberjacks, Yan Yu and Li Yifan’s Before the Flood I & II, and Zhao Liang’s Crime and Punishment. These are available for exhibition screenings now, DVD and VOD are on their way.

As always, comprehensive information on dGenerate Films and how to buy films in our catalog can be found on our website. If you’ve been considering obtaining dGenerate Films titles, we’d encourage you to put your plans in motion in 2010 and support the vital work our filmmakers produce. We’d be happy to help answer any questions you may have, feel free to contact us at any time, through any means, as always!

Welcome,

Brent Quan Hall

VP, Marketing & Operations
(646) 360-0343 / info@dgeneratefilms.com
http://dgeneratefilms.com

TOP CHINESE FILMS OF THE DECADE POLL

• dGenerate Films has released the results of their poll on the top Chinese language films of the 2000s. We queried fourty-seven of the leading Chinese film experts in the world, from academics to critics to filmmakers to curators. The top pick? Click here to find out!
• Some individual lists of note: Zhang Xianmin (China Independent Film Festival), Peter Rist (University of Concordia), and Shelly Kraicer (Vancouver International Film Festival); as well as all forty-seven ballots.

MEET THE FILMMAKERS AT BEIJING APPLE STORE

• dGenerate Films is proud to collaborate with Apple on a new monthly
  series called Meet the Filmmakers at the only Apple Store in China.
  The series kicks off with three back-to-back talks during the Spring
  Festival, a two-week holiday celebrating the Lunar New Year.

This series will showcase the brightest stars of today’s
D-Generation, 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.

• Feb 17 – Peng Tao
• Feb 18 – Cui Zi’en
  
• Feb 19 – Jian Yi

All events at 7pm at the Apple Store at The Village, Sanlitun, Beijing.

HOW CHINA IS USING ART TO SELL ITSELF TO THE WORLD

• The Toronto Star had a great article in December featuring many dGenerate filmmakers and their insights into how their work fits contextually into the political Chinese landscape. It’s a must-read for anyone looking to better understand the complexities of the environment within which independent artists create in today’s China.

STAY CONNECTED

• Help us maximize visibility for the underground films and independent filmmakers we represent. We’ve started Twitter-ing to go along with our Facebook Page. Join us and further the movement!

UPCOMING SCREENINGS

• Our exhibitions calendar is heating up for 2010, so contact us now to book a screening for any of our titles, including Zhao Dayong’s Ghost Town, named one of the top films of 2009 by many top publications. Below are some upcoming screenings.
• Jan. 29: Taking Father Home @ China Institute (New York, NY)
• Jan. 30: Crime and Punishment @ Walker Arts Center (Minneapolis, MN)
• Mar. 15-21: Ghost Town @ MoMA (New York, NY)
• Mar. 26: Betelnut @ Asia Society (New York, NY)
• April 2: Little Moth @ Asia Society (New York, NY)
• April 2-4: Ghost Town @ Union Theatre (Milwaukee, WI)
• April 9: Gai Shanxi and Her Sisters @ Asia Society (New York, NY)
• April 16: Fujian Blue @ Asia Society (New York, NY)

dGenerate Titles Named in the Top Films of the Decade Poll

While many of the films in the Top Chinese Language Films of the Decade poll can be hard to track down, we’re proud to be distributing several of them. In addition to the films below, other films mentioned include Before the Flood, Last Lumberjacks, and Crime and Punishment, all of which will be released in the coming months. To order our films or to get more information on any of our titles, visit our film catalog here and order through Amazon or directly through us.

	Oxhide (Niu Pi) – LIU Jiayin. China, 2005. Narrative, 110 min. Daily life in a cramped Beijing apartment takes on epic proportions in an unprecedented, intimate portrait of a Chinese family. More info>>
	The Other Half (Ling Yi Ban) YING Liang. China, 2006. Narrative, 111 min. Xiaofen spends all day listening to everything that’s wrong with China, opening her eyes to the chaos that threatens her own life. More info>>
	Betelnut (Bing Lang) – YANG Heng. China, 2005. Narrative, 112 min. Along a sleepy Hunan riverside, two delinquent boys experience a summer of love and violence in Yang Heng’s visually stunning debut. More info>>
	Little Moth (Xue Chan) – PENG Tao. China, 2007. Narrative, 99 min. When an impoverished couple adopts a crippled young girl and puts her to work begging on city streets, a battle soon ensues over her fate. Director Peng Tao turns the sordid street life of small town China into a chain-reaction tale of human cruelty and unforgettable suspense. More info >>
	San Yuan Li (San Yuan Li) – OU Ning, CAO Fei. China, 2003. Experimental Documentary, 45 min. Armed with video cameras, twelve artists present a highly stylized portrait of SAN YUAN LI, a traditional village besieged by China’s urban sprawl. More info >>
	Ghost Town – ZHAO Dayong. China, 2008. Documentary, 169 min. 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. More info >>
	Using (Long Ge) – ZHOU Hao. China, 2008. Documentary, 105 min. 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. More info >>

Relevant Classroom Use