Chinese Documentary Film Series
Fall Term 2008
Center for Chinese Studies
University of Michigan
Auditorium A, Angell Hall
435 S. State Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Saturdays – 7:00pm
Free and Open to the Public
During Fall Term 2008, the U-M Center for Chinese Studies will be presenting a series of contemporary documentary films on China. The series is free and open to the public. All are welcome to attend. Please note that access to Angell Hall and Auditorium A on Saturday evenings is only through an entrance on the east side of the building called the "Fishbowl" which faces the diag and the Graduate Library. Usually only one door is unlocked.
Care and Love
Saturday, October 4, 2008, 7:00pm
A film by Ai Xiaoming; China, 2007; 108 minutes (in Mandarin with English subtitles)
Care and Love draws its inspiration from “Investigation of AIDS in Xingtai,” an article by Wang Keqin, senior journalist of /China Economic Times/. The documentary tells the story of Liu Xianhong, a villager who contracted HIV through a blood transfusion during childbirth, and how she publicized her story, filed a lawsuit with her 8-year-old son against the hospital, and eventually received compensation. The bitter experiences of several families, and the collective effort by people living with HIV to defend their rights, resulted in the “Care Group” and the growing awareness of the possibility for grassroots efforts in the countryside to lead to real social change.
Public Lecture: We are delighted to present film director Ai Xiaoming, who will be giving a talk entitled “Visual Representation, Memory and Public Interest” at 4:00pm on Tuesday, September 30th in Room 1636 School of Social Work Building. All are welcome to attend.
China Blue
Saturday, October 11, 2008, 7:00pm
Directed by Micha X. Peled; China, 2005; 88 minutes (In English and Chinese with English subtitles)
Like no other film before, China Blue is a powerful and poignant journey into the harsh world of sweatshop workers. Shot clandestinely, this is a deep-access account of what both China and the international retailers don't want us to see: how the clothes we buy are actually made. Following a pair of denim jeans from birth to sale, /China Blue/ links the power of the U.S. consumer market to the daily lives of a Chinese factory owner and two teenaged female factory workers. Filmed both in the factory and in the workers' faraway village, this documentary provides a rare, human glimpse at China's rapid transformation into a free market society. China Blue is more than an exercise in cinematic activism...the film develops a natural dramatic structure that's profoundly affecting. Mr. Peled doesn't just record the girl's indignities, he listens to their dreams... China Blue examines the plight of the world's largest pool of cheap labor and traces its exploitation to a retail outlet near you." *THE NEW YORK TIMES
Red Capitalism: China's Economic Revolution
Saturday, October 25, 2008; 7:00pm
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 1995; 57 minutes (English and Chinese with English subtitles)
An economic revolution is turning China into the world's largest economy. The birthplace of Chinese capitalism is Shenzhen which has exploded from a farming village to an industrial center of 3 million people. This film shows how Western corporations are moving factories to Shenzhen to profit from cheap labor and join one of the world's largest consumer markets. Currently there are 58,000 joint venture corporations - from Proctor & Gamble to Volkswagen - for an annual economic growth of ten percent. So desirable is it to work in Shenzhen that the city must be patrolled to keep out the teeming hopefuls. Scientists are working as clerks, and teachers on assembly lines because they earn more doing menial work here. This Mecca of free enterprise has its seamy side as crime and prostitution abound. Yet, from Avon salesladies to manic millionaires, its inhabitants exhibit boundless enthusiasm for the future.
No Sex, No Violence, No News: The Battle to Control China's Airwaves
Saturday, November 1, 2008; 7:00pm
A film by Sharon Connolly, Susan Lambert and Stefan Moore for Film Australia; 2002; 55 minutes (English and Chinese with English subtitles)
This unique film examines the battle raging to control China's airwaves. Working with a government that allows nothing of social or political import to be broadcast, entrepreneurs from Hong Kong, Singapore, and Australia bring their full complement of consumerism and mindless entertainment to the millions of Chinese greedy for a glimpse of the outside world. Prof. Leonard Chu of Hong Kong Baptist University sees the arrival of television to the villages of China as a positive development, even with its limited programming. He applauds the new openness, providing a "window on the world." On the other hand, we hear from the director of Shanghai Communications whose only interest is in selling. He sees television solely as a tool for promoting Chinese products in their developing market. Gary Darcy, CEO of Murdoch’s Star Network describes how BBC News was cancelled from the schedule because the Chinese government would never allow a newscast from abroad. Dr. Geremie Barme, a widely respected observer of Chinese society says, "Chinese television is a negation of the social contract which provided free educations, pensions, and social services to the people and peasants. Instead, the self sacrificing citizen of the past is being turned into a consumer."
Last House Standing
Saturday, November 8, 2008; 7:00pm
A film by Chao Gan and Zi Liang; China, 2005; 54 minutes (English and Chinese with English subtitles)
As China continues its unprecedented economic growth, this documentary captures the poignant story of an elderly man caught between his country’s past and future. In Shanghai, yet another district is scheduled for demolition and redevelopment. The residents have all been relocated except for one. The owner of an old mansion, Mr. Jiang steadfastly refuses to leave. Mr. Jiang was born in this house and has watched the history of Shanghai unfold from its balcony. Vividly depicting the relationship between an individual and a changing society, this is an intimate appreciation of the vast changes sweeping through China today.
Shanghai Bride
Saturday, November 15, 2008; 7:00pm
A film by Melanie Ansley and Sam Voutas; 2006, 51 minutes (Mandarin, Shanghaiese, and English with English subtitles)
How does the average man find a wife in materialistic Shanghai? There are two single males to every single female and the women are increasingly picky and middle-class. The effects of the one-child policy combined with a rapid revolution in China's values and lifestyles, have created increasingly selective middle- class Shanghai women. For working class men, finding a wife is a quest that requires money, time, and the strength to withstand countless disappointments./ Shanghai Bride/ is a rare portrait of ordinary people in an extraordinary social predicament, a window on the cut-throat nature of Shanghai's marriage market.
Dance with Farm Workers
Saturday, November 22, 2008; 7:00pm Dance with Farm Workers
A film by Wu Wenguang and Su Ming; China, 2001; 57 minutes (Mandarin with English subtitles)
Documentarist Wu Wenguang records an unconventional dance performance project entitled "Dance with Farm Workers." Initiated and organized by choreographer Wen Hui (the director's wife), along with artists Song Dong and Yun Xiuzhen and staged in a former textile factory, ten actors and dancers are brought together with thirty farm workers who came from poor regions of Sichuan Province to work on construction sites in Beijing. Drawn to this dance project by the promise of 30 yuan a day for their efforts, the laborers later discover that even they have an opportunity to stand center stage and make a statement. Center for Chinese Studies, Suite 4668 SSWB, University of Michigan, 1080 S. University, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1106;
tel: 734-764-6308; fax: 734-764-5540;
e-mail: chinese.studies@umich.edu;
website: http://www.ii.umich.edu/ccs .
Films are courtesy of the Center for Chinese Studies, Professor Ai Xiaoming, Bullfrog Films, the Cinema Guild, and the Filmakers Library of New York.
Ena Schlorff
Program Coordinator
Center for Chinese Studies
4668 SSWB
University of Michigan
1080 S. University
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1106
tel: 734-764-4189
fax: 734-764-5540
website: http://www.ii.umich.edu/ccs |
