From Urbanscape to Waterscape: Place-(Un)Making in Contemporary Chinese Independent Cinema

Abstract

Uniting contemporary filmmakers Dong Jun (mainland China), Huang Hsinyao (Taiwan) and Tsang Tsui-shan (Hong Kong) in one critical project is both challenging and illuminating. While they all can be broadly classified as emergent “independent filmmakers” in Chinese-language cinema whose films are generally well-received by international alternative film audiences, the contexts in which they produce their work are quite different. Their preoccupations, however, are not dissimilar.The proposed presentation will compare the way that the filmmakers’ creativity and ecological concerns interact to produce new forms of cultural imaginaries in contemporary Chinese-language cinemas.