CiLENS Indie Chinese Cinema Week 2023: Authenticity Unframed—Navigating the Real and Reel in Chinese Indie Cinema

Time: October 21st, 16:00-17:30 CET
Venue: Sinema Transtopia, Lindower Str. 20/22, Haus C 13347 Berlin, Germany
Zoom Access: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83973853915 (Zoom ID: 839 7385 3915)

Founded in 2022, Indie Chinese Cinema Week (ICCW) is a Berlin-based film festival presented by CiLENS e.V.. Through curating and screening some of the most captivating, audacious, original, and emotional works from contemporary Chinese cinema, ICCW aspires to foster transcultural communication, and take audiences on a journey into exploring the complex realities of contemporary China and the Chinese-speaking world through insider perspectives.

Statement from the Organisation Committee: 

At ICCW, we embrace this transformative quality of cinema as we commit to our mission of presenting the intricate realities of contemporary China and the wider Sinophone world through the lens of Chinese Indie Cinema. Our core objective is to provide audiences in Europe with an authentic portal to traverse across the diverse topographies of Greater China, facilitating a view that is beyond Eurocentrism— a view of authenticity that reflects multiple realities from internal perspectives. But, what is “real”? What is “reel”? How should we understand “authenticity” and its role in film-making and film-viewing? 

Lou Ye, an icon of China’s Sixth Generation of filmmakers, once said in the film “Suzhou River” through the protagonist: “My camera doesn’t lie”. However, cinema is an art that constantly walks the line between reality and fiction. Every frame, every scene, and every story shown on the silver screen is a meticulously crafted version of reality, an artful amalgamation of light, sound, and narrative. The “China” on the screen, rendered by filmmakers, is one that is parallel, rather than identical, to reality. 

This year, we’re hosting a roundtable discussion, bringing together a filmmaker, a scholar, a critic, and a curator to delve into the spectrum of reality in Chinese Indie Cinema. Our dialogue will navigate the idea of “authenticity” by discussing how history, creativity, curatorship, and viewership shape the representations of “reality” in Chinese Indie Cinema. 

How have the creators and viewers of Chinese Indie Cinema changed over the past three decades? In the context of media globalisation, who constitutes the target audience for Chinese Indie Cinema, and what is their relationship with the worlds depicted on the screen? How have the shifting realities of Greater China been reflected in the films? In the pursuit of a camera that “doesn’t lie”, what kinds of efforts and compromises do filmmakers make? How do they establish a portal for audiences to experience the “everyday” of people “faraway”? As viewers, how should we interpret and deconstruct the “reality” projected on the screen? 

In this discussion, anchored by the concept of “authenticity”, we will dive into the world of Chinese films, exploring the dynamics and transformation of Chinese Indie Cinema. This event welcomes public participation, and we look forward to enriching the discussion with contributions from the audience—the very viewers of Chinese Indie Cinema.

Moderator:Wang Zifei, PhD candidate, CATS, Heidelberg University 

Guest Speakers: Jean-Michel Frodon, Critic, Journalist, Historian of CinemaDr. Zhang Zhen, Professor in Cinema Studies, Founder of Reel China, NYUDr. S. Louisa Wei, Documentary Filmmaker, Professor of Creative Media, City University of Hong KongCao Liuying, Co-founder of Deep FocusLiyo Gong, Film Editor, Musician, Actress

Check out ICCW’s Programme: 

https://sinematranstopia.com/cooperations/iccw-2023-bridging-horizons-through-the-sinophone-the-faraway-and-the-everyday