Underground Chinese filmmakers make their mark in USA

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• Underground Chinese films make their mark in USA

  Wednesday, Dec 1, 2010 12:17PM

  China Underground Film Series at Viz Cinema

  Posted November 30, 2010 by Luis in EVENTS

  

  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.

  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 3rd 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.

  At NEW PEOPLE
  1746 Post St,
  San Francisco, CA 94115
  For directions, see VISIT page

  “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 | Directed by Cui Zi’en
  Friday, 12/3 at 7:00pm
  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. Tickets are $15.00.

  Super, Girls! | Directed by Jian Yi, China
  Saturday, 12/4 at 1:00pm
  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 | Directed by Ou Ning
  Saturday, 12/4 at 2:45pm
  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 | Directed by Zhou Hao
  Saturday, 12/4 at 4:45pm
  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 | Directed by Zhao Dayong
  Saturday, 12/4 at 7:15pm
  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. Tickets are $10.00.

  1428 | Directed by Du Haibin
  Sunday, 12/5 at 1:00pm
  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 | Directed by Zhao Liang
  Sunday, 12/5 at 3:30pm
  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 | Directed by Li Yifan and Yan Yu
  Sunday, 12/5 at 5:45pm
  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.

Shanghai Portraits Project: Gianpaolo Lupori

Creative Hunt

Published November 12, 2010

http://www.creativehunt.com/shanghai/articles/gianpaulolupori-shanghaiportraitsproject-rovingdreams-shortfilm
CreativeHunt and SmartShanghai have been working with Lazy Susan Productions on their Shanghai Portraits Project and over the course of four weeks will profile each of the four directors who made short films for the series. The project challenged locally-based independent directors to represent "My Shanghai" in short documentary format, keeping the film length under four minutes and the budget under 3,000rmb (USD$450.) 

First up is Italian Gianpaolo Lupori, who took time out from his busy filming schedule to chat with Creative Hunt about his contribution to the Shanghai Portraits Project. 

What made you decide to come to China and make films?
I've been here almost 6 years now and moved here with my family, partly because I felt fed up with the way things were in Europe – Italy in particular – where doing media work can be very difficult, and the political and cultural environment doesn’t really appreciate and cultivate creativity. I'd initially planned to come here for just six months, really for a break, but then realized that there's so many interesting stories to be told as things develop here. There's a huge amount of information from an economic and political perspective – companies moving into China, the car industry and so forth … but no cultural information specific to what it is like to be Chinese right now... there isn't that much from a human point of view. China is not all rice paddies and China is not the Cultural Revolution, nor is it all glass buildings, it's a lifestyle – like everywhere. And of course where there’s all this movement there’s an incredible amount of drama and wanted to be able to tell these stories. It’s that that made me stay. 

Is that what we should expect from your film? Some of this movement and drama?
Not so much in this one – it only touches on it in only a very marginal way. It's an aesthetic piece, it looks good but could be punchier. It's Shanghai nightlife told from the point of view of a taxi driver. It's not so much about the driver himself, more him as a connection, a point of reference between so many different lifestyles and strands of society that come together in Shanghai. A taxi driver is an important figure in so many situations. Shanghai does accentuate things in a particular way, for better or worse, and there’s moments when you're super excited in a taxi and this particular driver has met so many of those people in both positive and negative situations: after a night out, on their way to an important meeting, being lost... what are the traces left in his life? The idea was to get a feel for him moving around the city and talking about not so much himself but more his relationship with people. 

Watching the film, there were moments when I was unsure whether I was watching a fiction or a documentary. Which was it, and was the ambiguity a conscious decision?
I don't come from a documentary background; I come from a fiction background. I do like the documentary aesthetic, but I also like having control over what's being said. I have done other pieces which are more documentary in look, but with this one I wanted to flip things around and make a documentary which has a cinematic feel, which looks more like a movie whilst still being a documentary. We stayed with the one driver and everything that is spoken about is recreated in various sequences or fragments. It's quite staged – there was lots of lighting and rigs involved, not that kind of shaky camera, guerilla feel which I do like but for this I wanted [to create something different]. The only element which is unusual is a kind of questioning of what makes a documentary: there’s this notion that they're like the bible, that they have a strong element of truth and therefore a certain authenticity which is very, very relative. I mean just the fact that you are following a particular story, that you gather a lot of material and you put it together in a certain way makes for a strong editorial point of view, but if you push this idea further, where does it tip over into fiction? Just the act of putting a microphone in front of someone and asking a question [means that people end up saying] things that they wouldn't necessarily say on other occasions, and just because there's a microphone and you’re not giving them a script doesn't necessarily mean that it's any more authentic than had it been scripted. I think often movies are better able to capture reality, the essence of something than, say, the news. Everyone was aware of the camera – people were told to either act like themselves or do certain things. The overall structure is documentary in that there’s no narrative and that it’s based on an interview with this one guy 

How was it working with the taxi driver? How's your Shanghainese?
My Shanghainese is awful! I have a collaborator who helped me so much: she was translator, production assistant, assistant director and producer. She helped us find the guy and yes, [language] was an issue, I realized that that is a wall that you end up banging up against as a foreigner. We did a first interview and I was very, very unhappy with it. When we first met the guy he told us some crazy stories – women offering themselves to him in exchange for payment because they had no money, people making out in the back of the car and asking him to wait outside, all sorts of crazy stuff, and I thought this is going to be fun. But then when we started interviewing him he became like cardboard, very materialistic and optimistic. When we asked him about why he felt people came to Shanghai he replied for the Expo – you know, things that you can’t put in a piece which is about a mood and not so much about details. We had to redo the interview. Initially, I just wanted to let him talk and we gather some things and then the visuals would follow, but in the end we had to tell him that we wanted him to talk about people and prompt him a lot more – we don’t want to talk about Expo! 



Sounds like quite a challenge!
Yeah, also the guy was a bit deaf which added an extra layer of difficulty when it came to communicating! But the thing is this guy had been an extra in a few movies so he knew how to work with the camera. He's rather dramatic in his movements and he followed instructions, he was easy to work with in terms of being fine with all the lights and rigs we put all over his car and he enjoyed the limelight. 

You decided that your 'My Shanghai' should be from the perspective of a taxi driver – did you learn anything unexpected or surprising about them while filming it?
Yes, that Shanghai drivers are not as philosophical as I’d hoped! I've had some conversations with a few that have been very interesting and you imagine these stereotypical figures, the figures that we see in popular culture who have so much contact with society on various levels that it's easy to assume that they all have this street knowledge and wisdom that will just come out spontaneously and that’s not necessarily the case. 

What attracted you to the Shanghai Portrait Project in the first place?
As a freelancer, you can be very free, you cling to the fact that you're free to do what you want, but often you're not free to do anything at all, you can end up a little complacent. Sometimes you need a deadline for that spark. At first I didn’t want to do a documentary piece, it’s not really my thing. I’d thought that unless you spend a year with someone you’re not going to get enough information, the depth of their real emotion, really get behind their front. But then I knew if I said yes then I'd have to do it. I also liked the attitude of Lazy Susan Productions: the stylistic element was important to them, that it's not 'just' a documentary, it's 50% subject, and 50% author, which made it a lot more personal and gave me room to play around with it a little bit. There’s the idea of a patchwork too, I'm interested in seeing how it fits in with the other films. 



What's next for you?
This was a very aesthetic piece, all about the look. There's this camera called a 5 D Mark II and there's something happening now that I’m not especially happy about – to myself and a lot of other people. There was a time when video cameras became very accessible, everyone was making their own little movies, but the cameras wouldn’t allow them to look good so instead you had this very cool, in-your-face, guerilla feel that everyone moved towards and there was no real question of personal style because that was all you could do. The camera became dominant … but then all of the sudden there’s this new camera which is just the opposite. Suddenly it’s very easy to make something that looks good and a lot of people fall into this trap where the aesthetic aspect overshadows the content. I think I've gotten this 'beautiful' thing out of my system now and I’m back to why I’m in the media business in the first place: meaning. I’m not saying the two can’t work together, but you can get sidetracked. 

I'm currently working on a feature version of a short film I made a few years back which is all about Chinese popular youth culture, the effect of the internet on society, personal engineering online... I'm very upset that this Facebook movie just came out, which I guess is very much along the lines of what I’m doing. Three years ago I made this film about people desperately trying to get famous online... 

Gianpaolo, they copied you!
Ha ha! It's kind of like Trainspotting from an internet point of view – you have people bury themselves in this alternate reality, and to some extent, they're liberated, but it can also throw them into a worse situation and you end up unsure of which reality is safer. It's about the positive and negative elements of the internet, especially in China where it’s very unique. 



It seems you manage to strike a nice balance between commercial and creative projects.
Yes, now I do, but for the first few years it wasn't like this. I've learnt a lot along the way, I've improved and of course projects like this one can help get your name out there. There's no way I can just focus on creative stuff – this is the first time I've received any sort of sponsorship or outside help for a creative project – and I was very , very grateful for it. 

Australia and China form film alliance

AUSTRALIAN movie makers are being encouraged to tap into China's booming film market through co-productions with Chinese screen producers.

By Susanna Dunkerley From: AAP November 30, 2010 2:44PM

Western film-makers often struggle to obtain Chinese government approval to make co-productions with Chinese companies.

But a new alliance between Australian and Chinese screen producers will help facilitate more co-production opportunities between the two countries.

The Screen Producers Association of Australia and China Screen alliance aims to help producers navigate through the Chinese bureaucratic processes.

And provide services, like translators, to help put producers directly in contact with each other.

South Australian film producer Mario Andreacchio was the first Western movie producer to gain approval for a co-production with a Chinese film company.

Mr Andreacchio, who recently finished his children's feature The Last Dragon, says Chinese film makers are keen to work with Australian counterparts.

"In Xi'an alone they have over 300 film production companies," he said.

"This is typical of the potential in the film-making industry that exists in provinces and regions around China."

The Screen Producers Association of Australia says film production, like the economy in China, is booming with 2010 box office takings expected to exceed US$1.5 billion.

"That is expected to get to $4.5 billion in the next 5 years," SPAA executive director Geoff Brown notes.

"And we are one of the first countries to be making such a serious effort on co-productions with China, which means we have a head start."

The new alliance could also help to boost the value of Australia film industry, valued at $731 million for 2009/10.

The figure represents just a two per cent growth since 2008/09, despite foreign features including The Chronicles of Narnia being shot locally.

And the big name foreign films did nothing to boost foreign investments in Australia in 2009/10, which took a nose dive on the previous years figures.

Foreign investors provided $68 million, or 23 per cent, of overall Australian film finance in 2009/10.

That compared to $211 million, or 52 per cent, of overall spending in 2008/09.

The Federal Government is undertaking a review of the viability of Australia's film and television industry, which is expected to be ready by the end of 2010.

This article first appeared in Australia's Herald Sun 

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/australia-and-china-form-film-alliance/story-e6frf7ko-1225963329881

ChongQing Film Festival goes "Back to Daxian"

14 Novermber 2010 ChongQing --The 4th Edition of the ChongQing Independent Film and Video Festival kicked off here today. Co-director Chen Fu pointed out the festival's commitment to supporting truly independent film in China and giving new filmmakers an opportunity to present their work. Co-director Zheng Zheng also pointed out that the festival is presenting eight truly independent feature films this year, including an independent animation production

 

As a part of the festival's commitment to new filmmakers, this year's festival offers several showcases of student works. Participants exhibiting their works include local ChongQing students  as well as groups from Beijing, Hong Kong and Japan.

The CIFVF is presented this year in cooperation with Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema http://www.netpacasia.org/2010/index.php NETPAC was formed 20 years ago to recognize the emergence of new cinematic talent among Asians. It publishes works on Asian film and is involved in promoting film showcases and festivals in Asia.

The Festival opened this year with  Japanese director Ryuji Otsuka's Still Life in ChongQing , a 2 minute experimental short made with still shots from an SLR camera in ChongQing's CiQiKou old street tourist area.

It followed with Liu Heng’s Back to Daxian (Huidao Daxian), which is a compelling feature length student documentary of Heng's return to her 7th grade class room. It follows Chen TingTing, a rough and strong girl who is struggling to find herself in her rough neighborhood near the Daxian, Sichuan train station.

We are offered a rare glimpse into the loneliness, starkness and brutality of the life for many Chinese. But young TingTing offers vitality and strength as she fights - with her school mates, her teachers, her parents, her fate in life.  TingTing becomes very unaware of the camera so behaves naturally, which is to say charming and bratty, in front of the camera. She also, very touchingly, forgets the camera and reaches out to the documentarian herself, behind the camera, seeking understanding, validation, or perhaps just connection.

This was shot on DV camera with no crew, so sometimes the image is hard to watch and the 120 minute film could profit by some tighter editing and stronger narrative structure, but Liu Heng presents a strong and personal documentary, often providing her own voiceover about her home and memories and her choice of subject in following TingTing makes this film compelling.

Gianpaolo Lupori Explores Shanghai Through "Dreams"

Roving Dreams, a short documentary film by Italian Director Gianpaolo Lupori and Producer Maxine Zhang will premier as part of a showcase of shorts portraying the spirit of Shanghai.

The Shanghai Portrait Project

Thurs, 11 Nov. 2010, 19:00-22:00h

Lola Club, 570 Yongjia Rd, building 4, room 413, Shanghai

‘Roving Dreams’ is a mini-documentary made as part of the ten-piece series, idiosyncratically directed by as many independent filmmakers, portraying remarkable individuals in Shanghai. As possible pilot for a future feature-length endeavor, the documentary spends a night wandering the convoluted web of elevated highways, streets and alleys that are urban Shanghai by taxi hopping to experience the city as perceived by its driver.

Having seen the world fly past him all his life as he sits still, a Taxi driver is the essence of street wisdom. As he drives sleeplessly though the night, he embodies the city’s paradoxical nature of being both a city of dreams and one that never sleeps - A somewhat permanent nocturnal daydream.

Yet while he himself is deprived of sleep, he is Charon to the millions of dreams that bustle around the city. He has seen dreams come true, be trampled underfoot, vanish, be forgotten or turn to nightmares in the eyes of his passengers. Who hasn’t found himself inside a Taxi bracing himself before a potentially life-changing meeting, felt ecstatic after a successful encounter, shattered after a defeat or inebriated after a night of excess?
Any Taxi Driver has seen that and more through his rearview mirror in the eyes of his passengers. While he himself may have no time to dream, he knows more about dreams than arguably anyone in the city. While most of the city sleeps, the documentary hopes to get a pulse on its dreams through the eyes of its subject. Yet rather than his own dreams, the driver will be asked to talk about the dreams of his passengers.


Lazy Susan Productions - The Shanghai Portrait Project

A series of shorts by international directors living in Shanghai.

The Shanghai Portrait Project is a series of 3-4 minute documentaries that together make up a mosaic of local life. This project brings together the creative scene in Shanghai and showcases the talents of some of its brilliant directors. We have 10 directors committed to the project so far. Each director chooses their own subject, this could be a person, group or place in Shanghai that represents "My Shanghai." 

Shanghai's East West Theater presents Caucasian Chalk Circle

East West Theatre presents

“The Caucasian Chalk Circle- CCC - a Satirical Comedy of Our Times” - 

by Bertolt Brecht.

Friday Nov 12^th, Saturday Nov 13^th, Sunday Nov 14^th, Friday Nov 19^th, & Saturday Nov 20^th        (At 8pm precisely)

Performance Language: English with Chinese subtitles

Venue: Xin Jiu Han Performing Arts Theatre, 2^nd floor, 251 Beihai Lu (near Yunnan Lu)

Nearest metro: Peoples Square (exit 1 or 15)

Presale tickets for 150RMB are available from Cotton’s at either 294 Xinhua Lu (evenings and weekends) or 132 Anting Lu (every day 10am-2am)

Group bookings and further information: call 13564102955 or email east.west.info@gmail.com

____________________________________________________________

" The Caucasian Chalk Circle" speaks to us, who live in these materialistic and property-obsessed times, of the Idea of ownership, it ask us to consider:

 What do we own?

How Much? 

Why do we own it? 

Do we need it?

Do we have a right to own anything? 

Do we own anything at all?

The Caucasian Chalk Circle tells a parable that explores what happens when the law conflicts with justice and asks questions about who is right and wrong in complicated situations. Setting up the play, a Prologue introduces the idea that things should be given to those who will take care of them as two farms dispute ownership of a valley. Once an agreement has been reached, the villagers put on a play—The Caucasian Chalk Circle.__