| New generation independent films: where China meets the West |
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| Culture | |
| Wednesday, 12 May 2010 | |
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For the hundreds of people who enjoyed last year’s film-screening seminar series Polyphonic China, the five Chinese independent documentaries would certainly have widened their perspective on contemporary China and the diversity of Chinese films. This year, Polyphonic China’s programmer Tianqi Yu is working with Cinephilia West, London’s newest cinema venue, to host a four day festival, and open a unique window on a vibrant contemporary China through an even more encompassing variety of films. The films in Tianqi’s collection present a highly international and self-expressive style characteristic of Chinese filmmakers mostly born and grew up in post-socialist China. Founder of Cube Magic, an organization that attempts to bridge the gap between China and the West through films, Tianqi has worked hard to programme films for the festival that break the traditional Western stereotyping of 'Chineseness'. She said, “The reason I called my organisation Cube Magic is because I want to tell my audience that China and Chinese films have many different faces just like a magic cube does. People can have their own interpretations on Chinese films, just like they have different ways of playing a magic cube. In addition, ‘Cube Magic’ sounds lively, playful, and dynamic, just like young Chinese people. I hope that after a Western audience realises the diversity of Chinese films, their expectation of 'Chineseness' will reduce so that Chinese artists can be as creative as they like.”
Poster of Condolences, (fiction), Dir. YING Liang, 19mins, 2009 DS: What is the history of contemporary independent film in China? Tianqi Yu : The Chinese film industry established in the 1950s was run by the state. Since the 1980s there was an emergence of urban generation cinema regarded as “underground” films, which were produced outside the scope of government regulation. These “underground” films invested heavily in the reality of society and people’s emotions, but their status meant that they could not screen in mainstream cinemas. They were only shown at personal (or “underground”) screening events or international film festivals. In the early 1990s, national control of distribution opened up so filmmakers had the option of cooperating with private businesses for distribution. China’s entry into WTO further pushed for film production’s reform. Consequently, films made independent of state control became known as independent films. Although independent films have not yet entered mainstream cinema, there is increasing interest for their public screenings, reflected in film festivals in major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Guangzhou, and Chongqing. This upcoming festival that I have programmed includes a good selection of films from the Chongqing Independent Film and Video Festival, a young and dynamic film festival programmed by the independent filmmaker Ying Liang. DS: What are the characteristics of young generation Chinese filmmakers, who are born and grew up in post-socialist China? Tianqi Yu : Mostly born in the 80s, they share a generational character that is heavily influenced by international culture, e.g. Japanese films, Hollywood and European cinema. This generation also grew up with the internet and user-generated content productions, so they are more diverse, self-expressive and personal, because the internet culture encourages self expression and social cultural participation. China’s established independent filmmakers, such as Jia Jiang Ke, focus more on realism cinema. They use a lot of long shots to capture the reality of society, but the characters themselves do not speak too much. They portray contemporary Chinese culture from a distance. However, new generation Chinese filmmakers are more personal, employ a more diverse variety of filming techniques and observe society from unique angles. For example, The 7th Medical Ward is about the lives of mentally disabled homeless people. The filmmaker did not present them as neglected and marginalised but rather as having their own personalities. They laugh together, share their personal stories and present a side of China that isn’t always about the problems. DS: How much western influence has affected the growth of China’s contemporary independent film industry? Tianqi Yu: There are two aspects – funding and aesthetic style. There is an expectation from the western funders of what Chinese films will be like so that Chinese filmmakers will generally adapt to that. There are certain things that western audience want to see in Chinese films such as contemporary China’s dramatic transformation and urbanisation and how they influence Chinese people’s lives. So when films are independent, they do not only need to negotiate with Chinese officials but also market forces from the West. Aesthetically, western influences in terms of cinema, music, literature and TV have impact on Chinese people. These influences are increasing as China continually opens up to the West, and these influences are what added diversity to contemporary Chinese films to make them different from the previous generation. Chineseness is increasingly difficult to define just like it is increasingly problematic to define any other culture in our contemporary globalised world. But one element that distinguishes Chinese contemporary filmmakers is the way they present social relations and position themselves. Social relations and the notion of the self in contemporary China have changed throughout the 20th century, but collective social relations still play an important role.
Photo still from Scrape, (documentary), Dir. ZHU Yi, 30mins, 2008 DS: What is the significance of hosting this festival in Britain? Tianqi Yu: I want to bring together British and Chinese audience and give them a window to new perspectives on contemporary China’s diverse social issues, relating to the topics of identities, history and human relations. I also want to focus on young Chinese filmmakers who are less well-known in British society and give them a chance to show something different. DS: How long did it take to plan this programme and arrange venue for its showing? Tianqi Yu: It took quite a few months, but I was lucky because Cinephilia West is also interested to show something from Chinese filmmakers so I spoke to them about my selection. Cinephilia West is very open and likes working with people from different backgrounds, I had a great time working with them. DS: What would you say is the most challenging aspect of programming this festival? Tianqi Yu: It is very difficult to get funding to support such events given the current economic circumstance. We do not have external funders so we put in a lot of voluntary work, trying hard to make this event happen. But we hope to keep it running as an annual event and also hope to get some funding for the next year’s event. In addition, making sure the every detail is working well took a lot of time and I experienced the anxiety of not knowing what the final reception will be. But at the same time I really enjoyed the process and when I think about my audience watching the films, I feel very energetic. DS: Who are your main target market audience for this festival? Tianqi Yu: From my experience at Polyphonic China, the British audiences who are interested in contemporary China tend to be older people who are from academic backgrounds, but I hope that by incorporating different genres of film into the festival, it will attract younger audience too. There is a fair proportion of Chinese youth interested in these films, because the issues featured in these films intricately connect with their generation and these films are not widely screened in China, but I hope that older Chinese can take an interest too. When: From Thursday 27th to 30th May 2010 at 7:00pm For further information about the event, please contact Yoram Allon ( This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it ) / 020 7792 4433 and Caroline Jones ( This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it )
Poster of The 7th Medical Ward, (documentary), Dir. ZHANG Tianhui, 44mins, 2007 |
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