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03/31/2013 2-4pm
Ran Space, 269 Kent Ave, Brooklyn (L Train to Bedford Ave.)
Founded in 2003 in Nanjing, the China Independent Film Festival (CIFF) has been one of the most vital platforms to showcase independent films in China.”Independent” has gradually replaced “underground” (a label much protested by the filmmakers) in the public discourse since 2003 when the state administration began to lift the ban on the then called “6th generation”directors, to refer to the films that do not acquire the official approval for public distribution. After its early struggles, CIFF thrived into an impassioned arena for independent filmmakers, curators, academics and cineastes, with a prolific profile of both productions and publications. But everything was brought to a halt last year. In the second half of 2012, all independent film festivals in China were cancelled at short notice due to the party congress. “Police stepped up to invite us for tea (interrogations for deterrent purposes), creating a climate of intense fear. Nobody escaped: all our employees, our partners, sponsors, universities which hold forums, journalists…”
Prof Zhang Xianmin, president of the China Independent Film Festival, as well as a productive curator, writer and actor, is going to talk about the brief history of CIFF as well as the digital turn of the Chinese independent film scene in early 2000s, the current challenges of CIFF, the possibilities of Chinese independent cinema as he has observed during his tenure with the festival, the best and worst of times for the independent cinema in China.
Admission: $5 at the door
