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Independent Chinese Documentary
Alternative Visions, Alternative Publics
by Dan Edwards
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Book Presentation:
Analyses how independent documentaries are forging a new public sphere in today’s China
Since the turn of the twenty-first century there has been an explosion in Chinese independent documentary filmmaking. But how are we to understand this vibrant burst of activity? Are these films brave expressions of dissidence, or do they point to a more complex attempt to expand the terms of public discourse in the People’s Republic?
This timely study is based on detailed interviews with Chinese documentary makers rarely available in English, and insights gained by the author while working as a journalist in Beijing. It considers the relationship between independent documentaries and China’s official film and television sectors, exploring the ways in which independent films probe, question and challenge the dominant ideas and narratives circulating in the state-sanctioned public sphere. Detailed analyses of key contemporary documentaries reveal a sustained attempt to forge an alternative public sphere where the views and experiences of petitioners, AIDS sufferers, dispossessed farmers and the victims of Mao’s repression can be publicly aired for a small, but steadily growing, public.
Key Features:
• A detailed account of one of the world’s most active, vibrant and challenging contemporary documentary sectors
• Draws extensively on first-hand interviews with filmmakers
• Offers in-depth, critical analyses of China’s most challenging contemporary independent documentaries
• Discusses China’s state-sanctioned film and television sectors to cast new light on how the official public sphere is shaped and guided by the state
About the Author:
Dan Edwards has published over 70 articles on film and media in Australian newspapers and magazines. He worked as a magazine writer in Beijing, China from 2007-11, before completing a PhD in film and television at Monash University in 2014. Prior to living in China he worked for the Communications Branch of the Australian Film Commission and was the editor of the OnScreen section of RealTime arts magazine. He now lives in Melbourne, Australia, where he teaches film at the University of Melbourne and Monash University.
Press Reviews:
Edwards’ volume functions in various ways as an update on the rapidly changing independent documentary scene in China...One of the most outstanding features of Edwards’ book is that he consistently deploys first-class journalistic methodologies by conducting revealing, in-depth interviews with the filmmakers themselves...an inspiring book.– Paul G. Pickowicz, University of California, San Diego, JOURNAL OF CHINESE CINEMAS
While Chinese cinema has been dominated by the ascendance of blockbusters and box-office fare, a more edgy, experimental and uncompromising vision for Chinese film comes via the independent Chinese documentary filmmaking scene. In this fascinating study, Dan Edwards delves deep into this world, exploring the twisted intersections of filmmaking with ethics, activism, and historical memory.'– Michael Berry, University of California
See the publisher website: Edinburgh University Press
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