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*Polyphonic China - Chinese new independent documentaries* * * *Venue: NLT2 Lecture Theatre 1 & 2 (Old Cinema), Regent Campus, University of Westminster, 309 Regent Street, London W1B 2UW * * * *Time: Tuesdays, 10th / 24th Feb, 10th /24th/ 31st Mar, 2009, 6pm -9 pm* * * *All films are subtitled in ENGLISH and FREE ENTRY to everyone. All films, apart from 'Though I am Gone', are having their UK premieres here.* *Session One: Tuesday 10th February 2009, 6pm – 9pm.* *Screening: Crime and Punishment ( dir. Zhao Liang, China, 2007)* *Talk: "On the Edge: Zhao Liang and the Chinese Independent Documentary Scene"* * * *Speaker: Professor Chris Berry, Goldsmiths College, University of London* . This film has won: · The Best Director at International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival 2008 · The Golden Balloon at Festival des Trois Continents France 2008 · Also screened at Taiwan International Documentary Festival 2008 Synopsis of the film: There is more to today's China than the hypermodern urban complexes and dazzling sports centres which we find in the media. The film offers an unexpectedly authentic everyday portrait of the microcosm that is a police station in the border regions, where the impact of China's economic boom has not been felt. Reinforced units fight crime, though the results are often confused and grotesque despite the diligence of the inexperienced young officers. A mentally ill man calls them out over a "corpse" he has found in his bed which turns out to be a crumpled duvet. Another man suspected of robbery cannot be made to answer questions, even using violence, because he is most likely dumb. Chris Berry argues that China's independent documentary scene is at the cutting edge of its screen culture, even if it appears to be on the margins of Chinese culture. Among the practitioners of this alternative culture, Zhao Liang is one of the edgiest directors. He not only works with marginal people, like drug addicts (Paper Airplane) or cops and criminals in the Northeastern borderlands (Crime and Punishment). Furthermore, his reliance on personal friendships to make people reveal potentially incriminating behaviour takes his films to the limits of the ethically acceptable. Is this "cruelty" (as Wang Yiman has called it) a fair price for documenting unsettling truths, or is it exploitation of his subjects for our spectatorial pleasure? Or both? If you could contact me at [log in to unmask] to indicate your attendance to help us keep check on numbers, it would be much appreciated. We look 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!