The Week’s Nistha Rayamajhi caught up with La Frances Hui, the curator of this showcase who has managed several independent Chinese film series in New York and has worked with many filmmakers over the years. Excerpts from the interview: [break]
What’s special about China Expose?
This is the first time that a series of independent Chinese films are being screened besides the occasional single film screenings. Even the filmmakers are in Kathmandu to attend the festival which will make the screenings more special. More importantly, China and Nepal are neighbors but it seems unreasonable that the two countries know so little about each other. In fact, when I approached the filmmakers, they agreed immediately as they are intrigued by Nepal and wanted to experience its culture. Also, there is a gap between East Asia and South Asia. So we have to start from somewhere, and this festival is the right platform to do so.
What’s the scene of independent filmmaking in China?
Independent filmmaking in China started some two decades back and has grown at a pace that’s not just mature but also significant in terms of the variety. Initially, the ride was tough, as there isn’t really a history on documentary filmmaking in China. The Communist Party always looked at films as a medium to propagate party ideologies as it was a useful propaganda and it wasn’t really looked at as a form of creative expression. So, in the 1990s, more young people wanted to make films gradually in order to tell their stories and record realities using a medium but without examples to look at. Twenty years later, the field has really matured and filmmakers got internationally recognized not just for their contents but also for the way they made use of the artistic medium.
How is independent documentary films perceived in China?
When people talk about independent films like in the US or in other parts of the world, they think of it as low-budget films made by filmmakers who don’t have the financial power to be backed up by major film studios. In China, however, it actually isn’t defined that way. If you want your film to be exhibited in a regular movie theater, then you’re supposed to go through a censorship process, and in cases where your films are unapproved of officially, it can’t be shown in a regular movie theatre. In that way, people still see independent films in university settings, small film clubs or specialized film festivals that aren’t state-approved. So the audience is pretty limited and they have an educated crowd usually from university environment and from the filmmaking community itself. A lot of such films are well received overseas in major film festivals. Even the filmmakers who are represented in this film series in Kathmandu have been internationally presented and well praised.
Please tell us something about the six films showcased in China Expose.
I have specifically selected these six films because I think they present veracity and speak exactly of the scene of independent documentary scene in China. Each film presents a different theme, and if you look at all the six films, they touch upon varied themes like justice, environment, urban life, personal aspirations, economic growth, migration, and also things of the past. Each filmmaker approaches filmmaking in a different way, so we’re talking about diversity in terms of both contents and forms. They are more observation-based and they are films which are constructive in terms of storytelling. All in all, I think that it’s a good group of films to let the audience here in Nepal experience what’s going on in the independent documentary filmmaking world in China.
Why do you think such film festivals are important?
If you go to major film festivals, it’s common to see a lot of Chinese independent films being represented. But people still work with very limited resources and they still struggle financially. They also have problems in sharing their films with their audience. Therefore, I think it’s a great opportunity for them to be able to come here to be represented in international film festivals as such to share their experiences as filmmakers and learn from Nepali filmmakers as well.
What do you think are the challenges of independent filmmaking in China?
The future is looking better in China as we can see a lot of growth in independent films. But filmmakers still have to face a political condition that doesn’t really allow them total freedom to do whatever they want to. There are no such things as self-censorship when it comes to Chinese filmmakers as they essentially do whatever they want to. If you look at the films, you’ll be quite surprised with the degree of freedom the filmmakers have exercised. First, these films reach a very limited audience in China. So the Chinese government doesn’t even want to bother too much, (even) when the filmmakers may want to produce films that won’t put China in a good light. So even if you aren’t making a huge impact at home, people internationally might be able to see them. So the challenge in the future is for filmmakers to find a way to connect with their home audience as well.
• The program will officially open on Friday (today) August 17 with an interaction program with filmmakers Huang Weikai (“Disorder”) and Jian Yi (“Super. Girls!”) at 2 pm.
• The six documentaries will be screened on August 18 and 19 at Yala Maya Kendra, Patan Dhoka. Entry is free on first-come-first-served basis.
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