Chinese director Peng Tao
BEIJING ― Chinese documentary cinema is gradually gaining international recognition, with films like “Up the Yangtze” and “Last Train Home” winning awards overseas and thereby reaching a wide international audience.
But these films spring from a 20 year legacy of documentary making in China that remains largely undiscovered, in large part because the films were never cleared by the Chinese film bureau, and thus couldn’t be shown in cinemas in the country where they were made. ARTINFO asked director Peng Tao to give us an education in the best of early Chinese documentaries.
Peng is described as one of China’s New Urban Generation, mostly documentary film makers working at the close of the 20th century. Like many of his contemporaries, Peng began by crafting documentary films for the state owned China Central Television (CCTV) before later turning to a career in independent film making.
“Chinese documentary cinema was completely revolutionized in the late ’90s and 2000s in China. Suddenly everyone could own a camera because of digital technology. So we are also known as the D Generation,” says Peng. “We could afford to go and make something that was for ourselves.
1. “The Other Bank”, 1994, directed by Jiang Yue
Filmed in 1993, “The Other Bank” follows a group of young actors who studied drama at the Beijing Film Academy. Some of them stay on to perform the play “The Other Bank” written by Gao Xingjian (later awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature).
But Jiang doesn’t leave his subjects in the elation of their avant-garde theater debut. The film goes on to examine both the art of acting, and the challenges of breaking from the working class into the intellectual class of artists, which also promises financial gains. We see each penniless young actor fail, as they eventually return to work in factories or farms when their next performance prospect falls through.
What Peng says: “This is an independently produced documentary that tells the story of a group of kids from outside Beijing who failed to get into university but are trying to achieve their dream of stardom. I saw this film nearly 20 years ago, and I found very moving. It made an impression on me that remains with me to this day.”
2. “Dream walking”, 2005, directed by Huang Wenhai
This black and white documentary, a sequel to the director’s earlier film “Floating Dust”, seeks to show what it means to survive in China as an artist.
“Dream Walking” features four artists who move from Beijing to Henan province for the summer. Three visual artists and a poet are shown working on their own projects and discussing their understanding of the meaning of art in their society. The film is a record of the chaos and tumult in contemporary China as seen by artists.
What Peng says: “Here a group of idealistic artists find clarity in art, as they explore their reality and their convictions. This film really made me look at myself and the way in which artists survive in China. Artists here are jsut a bunch of poor wretches.”
3. “For every minute that I live, I’ll enjoy the 60 seconds,” 2006, by Zhang Zhanqing
Da Gang has just come into his forties. He’s divorced, has lost his job and his mother suffers from mental illness. A story both distressing and yet imbued with a deep sense of hope, we see Da Gang living on the edge as he tries to scrape a living in the morning and spends the rest of the day at underground clubs and drinking.
The title for the film is the maxim by which he lives, as he seeks to forget the pains of his divorce and his financial failure.
What Peng says: “The protagonist takes a naïve, trusting and very basic approach to life, blocking out the past, and basically indulging himself where he can. In a way, this film made me feel happy. It shows a victim of circumstances doing what he can to stay hopeful.”
4. “Crime and Punishment”, 2007, directed by Zhao Liang
Set in a police station in Northeast China, Zhao managed to get the footage for this film by telling the police he was doing research for a fictional screenplay. A study of power, “Crime and Punishment,” shows the police interrogating petty criminals, going about their daily routines and in some scenes beating up the people they have arrested.
What Peng says: “This film takes place in a police station in Northern China, one that is just like any other, in any corner of the country.
“You see how they work on a daily basis for the government to control people, to maintain social stability and you get a a sense of their own idea of what their responsibilities are. This is a really excellent film, and I think its director, Zhao Liang, is probably the best in China after Wang Bing, famous for his film “The Ditch” about Chinese labor camps.”
5. “Dr Ma’s Country Clinic,” 2007, Directed by Cong Feng
Filmed in a small rural town in China’s Western province of Gansu, “Dr Ma’s Country Clinic” is the story of Doctor Ma Bingcheng and his patients. The film offers slice-like insights into the patients’ lives and their contemporary rural society, as they queue and gossip about the best and worst of their experiences with each other.
What Peng says: “A warm and heartfelt documentary of the people and landscapes of China’s rural West, this film has a powerful visual impact. Cong Feng is a good friend, and in this film I could really see the enthusiasm he has for his art.”
Originally posted in Artinfo China.
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