Polyphonic China Chinese new independent
documentaries<http://www.wmin.ac.uk/mad/page-569>


The last session: Tuesday 31st March 2009, 6pm - 8 pm.

Venue: RS152, Cayley room, Regent Campus, University of Westminster, 309
Regent Street, London W1B 2UW

Screening: TAXI (的哥) (dir. Fan Jian. 2008. 59mins, with *ENGLISH
subtitles) screened
at: Hong Kong Film Festival 2008 / The 5th China Independent Film Festival
2008*

Talk: Making film in China now: Young Chinese filmmakers' experiences and
strategies in contemporary mainland Chinese film industry

Speaker: Tianqi Yu, CREAM, University of Westminster


Synopsis:

Beijing, a city rushing toward modernization, is the coordinate of
China. Covered
in the mask of the night, desire grows.

Taxi, swarming in the city, never seems to pause.

A taxi driver, thirty years old, married for 7 years, lives in Beijing. His
passion has gone, in a city on its peak time of passion.

Passengers are, teachers, doctors, students, merchants, pimps, prostitutes,
believers...In spring, the driver says to every passenger, "the sand storm is
coming tomorrow." Summer comes, the driver complains to the passengers that
his wife doesn't love him anymore. The passengers also have their own share
of stories of happiness and sorrow. Someone is going through a break-up and
it is heart-breaking; someone came all the way to meet his old lover in a
night club of Beijing; someone told the driver, it's normal to have a
loveless life. Autumn time, the driver tells the passengers that, he wants
to be a monk, but where is the place with the absolute peace? Different
passengers have different responses and answers...

Seasons change, color of the night remains, in which resides the stories of
the mix of dreams, desires, and human nature...

-----

In this session of Polyphonic China, Yu will put the new documentary
practice into a larger field of contemporary Chinese film industry and
analyse it from a cultural sociological viewpoint by presenting a study she
has done on the experience and strategies of young Chinese filmmakers
working in this field.

The young Chinese filmmakers as *symbolic creators* are facing challenges
and opportunities in the contemporary film industry of mainland China. The
later is experiencing the process of rapid commercialisation and
globalization. Yu's analysis revealed some main forces affecting young
filmmakers' strategies, including their general knowledge background; the
different sources of funding; the political censorship that constrains the
production and distribution of films; the request for economic profit. Based
on their different reactions to such forces and on to the different degrees
of artistic autonomy, filmmakers hold two different strategies: producing
commercial films or making critical social expression in the context of
contemporary China.

If you could contact me at [log in to unmask]
<[log in to unmask]>to
indicate your attendance to help us keep check on numbers, it would be much
appreciated.



We are* *Looking forward to seeing you there!



Best wishes,

Tianqi Yu
Ph.D candidate
Research Assistant of

Centre for Research and Education in Arts and Media

The School of Media, Arts and Design
University of Westminster
Watford Rd, Northwick Park

Middlesex HA1 3TP

Screening-seminars: Chinese new independent documentaries - UK
Premiere!<http://www.wmin.ac.uk/mad/page-569>