The New Chinese Documentary

Catalog description

Topics vary by semester. For Fall 2024:SINOPHONE DOCUMENTARIES: HISTORY, THEORY & PRACTICE The new Chinese documentary as an independent film practice emerged around 1989. Prior to that, documentary film in China was exclusively produced and distributed within a state-controlled media system. Paralleling and bearing witness to decades of rapid and large-scale economic and social transformations in post-Mao China, the new documentary has also transformed itself into a multifaceted social movement involving filmmakers, critics, curators, and publics on a variety of platforms including the internet, and has caught the attention of both domestic and international film and arts festivals. An integral aspect of the course will inquire into issues of technology, distribution, exhibition and reception. The seminar has two interconnected components: 1) Tracing multiple historical genealogies of the movement and to explore conceptual frameworks for understanding the dynamic relationships between aesthetic experimentations, socio-political exigencies and ethical responsibilities in the Chinese independent documentary; 2) Placing the evolving phenomenon in the PRC within a broader Sinophone context and regional globalization, the course brings in parallels or alternative developments in Taiwan and Hong Kong, analyzing their connections and divergences. A crucial component of the course requires active participation in the 11th Reel China Biennial.