CFP: Conference on Chinese cinemas in and outside China

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Posted on April 18, 2013 by f_chan

Call for Papers
Chinese Cinemas in and outside China
Cornerhouse, Manchester
11-13 October 2013

Following two highly successful symposia, the Chinese Film Forum UK, a research network supported by the AHRC, is hosting an international conference on Chinese cinemas in and outside of China.

Plenary speakers:
Professor Rey Chow, Duke University (in collaboration with CIDRAL, University of Manchester)
Dr Song Hwee Lim, University of Exeter

With the rapid development of the film industry within the People’s Republic of China since the 1990s a more varied conception of Chinese cinemas has begun to proliferate internationally. While the mainland’s large markets are coveted by Hollywood, its own production, distribution and exhibition capacities have expanded exponentially in the past 20 years, producing box-office success both domestically and abroad. This explosion has in turn also has led to a re-thinking of a number of old orthodoxies concerning Chinese cinemas. This conference intends to make an intervention in these debates by addressing a number of issues. For example, what is the impact of this rapid expansion on filmmaking both within and outside China? Where do films produced outside China fit into notions of Chinese filmmaking? Are new forms of independent films appearing? What significance do patterns of both internal and external distribution and exhibition have on conceptions of Chinese cinemas? What is the impact on the filmmaking of the Chinese diaspora?With these issues in mind, proposals are invited on, but not restricted to, the following:

(Re)Negotiating definitions of Chinese cinema
Changing production contexts of Chinese cinemas
National and global constructions of Chinese cinemas
Critical approaches to Chinese cinemas
The impact of mainland Chinese production on the film industries of Taiwan and Hong Kong
Regional co-productions
International co-productions
Distribution and exhibition of Chinese cinemas
Censorship
Shifting conceptions and definitions of independent cinema
Vernacular Chinese languages and cinema
Chinese cinemas outside of China, including South-east Asia, North America and Europe
‘Chinese’ filmmakers working on non-Chinese-language films
Transnational Chinese film stardom

150-200 word proposals for a 20-minute paper presentation and a short biography, or queries, should be sent by 31st May 2013 to cffuk.mcr@gmail.com (organisers: Dr Felicia Chan, University of Manchester, and Dr Andy Willis, University of Salford)

Chinese New Year Event – One Hour Intro: Popular Taiwan Cinema Beyond the Arthouse and You Are the Apple of My Eye screening

Posted on March 17, 2013 by Emma Chibulu

By Robert Hamilton

Following the success of CFFUK’s symposium on Chinese Identities and in celebration of Chinese New Year, the Cornerhouse screened the Taiwanese romantic comedy You Are the Apple of My Eye (Na xie nian, wo men yi qi zhui de nu hai) directed by Giddens Ho in 2011. In support of the screening and to contextualize the film, Dr. Felicia Chan (University of Manchester and Chinese Film Forum, UK) gave an introductory talk on Popular Taiwan Cinema Beyond the Arthouse.

It was an informal and informative lecture that placed Taiwanese popular cinema outside the west’s received perception of the sad, melancholic, slow cinema of the New Taiwan cinema of Edward Yang, Hou Hsiao-hsien and Tsai Ming-liang. While these directors are fêted in the west with little concern of the taint of commercialism, a popular, youth orientated cinema emerged from the rapid social modernisation of the 1980s. It drew on the small budget, big box office savvy of Ang Lee. It opted for a youthful promise as opposed to the artistic depression of the arthouse film. Dr. Chan argued that while it was aimed at a youth market, it dealt with a school days nostalgia that appealed to a wide range of ages that, in the words of Dr. Ming-Yeh Rawnsley (University of Leeds), ‘triggered a sense of nostalgia and reverence’. Continue reading →

The Creation and Circulation of Chinese Identities in and through Cinema — CFFUK Symposium Report

Posted on February 16, 2013 by Emma Chibulu

By Wikanda Promkhuntong

This is the second time I had the opportunity to attend the Chinese Film Forum UK’s (CFFUK) Symposium. Set up for the research and promotion of transnational Chinese film, CFFUK is an AHRC-supported joint venture between the University of Manchester, University of Salford, Manchester Metropolitan University, Confucius Institute, Chinese Arts Centre and Cornerhouse. I recall that one of the highlights of the CFFUK symposium I attended last spring (The Distribution and Exhibition of Chinese and Asian Cinema in the UK) was the dynamic between academic paper presentations and talks by those involved in the distribution and promotion of Chinese and Asian films in the UK. The sheer diversity of papers this time from established scholars from all over the world combined with a large and vibrant group of young researchers in the field was equally impressive.

Held at the Chinese Arts Centre, Manchester on 29th-30th January 2013, the symposium presented a total of eight panels with twenty-two invigorating papers that explored the subject of Chinese identities from incredibly diverse aspects. These included the historical studies of Chineseness in early cinema and animations, papers on the shifting representations of gender and class of characters and film stars in contemporary Chinese cinema, the commoditisation of Taiwan’s landscapes though cinema, the construction of Chinese public personas and works on industrial contexts particularly the transnational commercial productions and festival films. The symposium also featured a keynote speech from a revered Chinese cinema expert, Professor Chris Berry and a public film screening. The organisers remain committed to showcasing Chinese films that have not received UK distribution, so I had a chance to see Song Fang’s meditative directing debut, Memories Look At Me (China 2012) in the evening of the first day.

Continue reading →

January symposium programme and registration

Posted on January 4, 2013 by f_chan

Registration for the following symposium is open via the Chinese Arts Centre website.

Please note that places are limited, so early registration is advised.

A draft programme may be found here.

The registration fee includes a ticket to the film Memories Look at Me (Song Fang 2012). Tickets for the film alone may be purchased via the Cornerhouse website.

The Creation and Circulation of Chinese Identities in and through Cinema

A Chinese Film Forum UK symposium
29th — 30th January 2013
Chinese Arts Centre, Manchester

Tickets:
£25 Standard (including lunch, refreshments and complimentary cinema ticket)
£15 Students/Concessions (including lunch, refreshments and complimentary cinema ticket)

Questions of identity and representation have been prominent in film studies, including the proliferation of work produced on Chinese cinemas to date. However, the question of how identities may be circulated, and created, through cinema as a socio-cultural formation and industrial product remains to be explored. For example, what role do genres play in identity formation and circulation? How do distribution networks and marketing practices impact on what kinds of Chinese films are produced and received? Is there a space that exists for multilingualism and cultural diversity within Chinese cinemas, and what implications might it have for how Chinese cinemas are conceptualised?

Keynote lecture: ‘The Chinese Woman Doubled: Chinese Modernity and Compulsory Progress’ (Professor Chris Berry, King’s College, London)

January symposium travel information

Posted on December 19, 2012 by f_chan

This information is for delegates and participants who plan to attend our symposium in January. This isn’t a comprehensive list but may help people coming in from out of town. A draft programme and booking information (for non-speakers) will be posted as soon as some details are confirmed.

Manchester is well connected by public transport. If you are flying in to Manchester airport, there is a train from the airport into the city centre, which is less than half an hour away by train. Manchester is also accessible by train from London (Euston station). There are 3 trains per hour on average and the journey is about 2h 15mins or so.

The city centre is small and it takes no more than 25-30 mins to walk from one end to another, so many of the hotels in the city centre will be within walking distance of the Chinese Arts Centre, which is located in the popular Northern Quarter area of the city.

There are also 3 free city centre Metroshuttle bus services that run frequently throughout the day. The stop for the Chinese Arts Centre is Shudehill Station, and the stop for Cornerhouse is Oxford Road Station.

The following is a small, but by no means exclusive, list of hotel options across different price ranges you may wish to consider. There are no special deals arranged with them, so you would be booking with them on normal terms.

Ibis Hotel, Portland Street

Premier Inn, Manchester Central

The various locations are indicated on this Google map.

Please note that January winters in Manchester can sometimes be cold and rainy, and we have had some unexpected snow fall in the last couple of years, which can sometimes take the British transport system by surprise. So do keep an eye out for the weather report before you arrive.

Any questions, please email (link on the side bar).

January symposium programme to follow soon

Posted on December 11, 2012 by f_chan

Our second symposium on ‘The creation and circulation of Chinese identities in and through cinema’ will be held on 29th and 30th January 2013, at the Chinese Arts Centre, Manchester.

The event will take place over two full days and include the screening of Memories Look at Me (Song Fang, China 2012) at Cornerhouse, Manchester’s independent cinema and art gallery. (Tickets for the screening may be purchased separately if not attending the symposium.)

The keynote lecture will be delivered by Professor Chris Berry, King’s College London.

More details about the programme and booking to follow shortly.

Hong Kong Filmmaker, Angie Chen, returns to Manchester with a new film

Posted on October 19, 2012 by f_chan

by Robert Hamilton

Angie Chen’s This Darling Life (2008) opened Visible Secrets, the festival of Hong Kong’s Women Filmmakers held at Cornerhouse in 2009. It was a film which marked Angie’s return to feature filmmaking after an absence of 20 years, and is a playful and poignant meditation on the companionship between dogs and their owners from the homeless inhabitant beneath a Hong Kong underpass to the residents of the Peak. It starred her own pets and featured a dialogue with her brother on their family history. The film had the feel of the director taking stock of life and, as she said at the time, was ‘a quirky kind of film and a very personal one too’.

Up to that point Angie’s career had included acting, directing, working with Jackie Chan and for the Shaw Brothers as well as a lengthy time directing commercials. Since graduating from the film school at UCLA, she has worked in the media industries for over 30 years. In America, Angie was working on Liu Jia-Chang’s first English project when Jackie Chan asked her to return to Hong Kong to work on Dragon Lord (1982). She finished the film as Chan’s assistant director. She went on to make three features for the Shaw Brothers, Maybe It’s Love (1985), My Name Ain’t Suzie (1985) and Chaos by Design (1988). She then moved into directing TV commercials and teaching film production at the Hong Kong Academy of the Performing Arts.

Continue reading →

Conference Report — Imagining Chinese Cinemas in the 21st Century

Posted on October 13, 2012 by Emma Chibulu

Imagining Chinese Cinemas in the 21st Century:
Launch Event, One Day Conference & Postgraduate Workshop
By Joe Hickinbottom

From 9th to 11th July, the University of Exeter hosted the inaugural event of the ‘Chinese Cinemas in the 21st Century: Production, Consumption, Imagination’ research project, funded by a Leverhulme Trust International Network grant and led by Exeter’s Song Hwee Lim. Organised by network partners based in universities from across the world, including in the UK, Australia, Singapore, the Netherlands, Taiwan and the US, the project aims to explore the role played by cultural products (and film in particular) in the construction of both China’s self-image and others’ perception of the region’s culture on local, national, regional and global levels. Consisting of a launch event, a one day conference and a postgraduate workshop, these three days were to focus specifically on one of the project’s main concerns: the function of imagination in the production and consumption of Chinese cinemas in the new millennium.

With a dynamic and convivial atmosphere from the start, the proceedings kicked off on the first day with a well-attended, thought-provoking keynote address by the distinguished Rey Chow. After a welcome to the conference and a brief introduction to the project by Song, Rey delivered a stimulating and somewhat challenging paper (deceptively subtitled ‘Some Basic Questions’) examining the interplay between ‘foreign observers’ and ‘native informants’ in the (pseudo-)documentary work of Michelangelo Antonioni’s Chung Kuo – Cina (Italy/China 1972) and Jia Zhangke’s I Wish I Knew (China 2010). That this event was opened by Rey’s declaration of the significance of the documentary genre in the study of modern Chinese cinemas would prove to be fitting, prematurely revealing as it did one of the major threads that were to develop over the three days.

Continue reading →

CFP: Symposium on the creation and circulation of Chinese identities in and through cinema

Posted on September 10, 2012 by f_chan

Following the success of our last symposium, we are hosting another in January 2013. Please circulate the call for papers below widely.

Call for Papers
The creation and circulation of Chinese Identities in and through cinema

Chinese Arts Centre, Manchester
29-30 January 2013

The Chinese Film Forum UK, a research network supported by the AHRC, is hosting its second symposium. The focus is on the creation and circulation of Chinese identities in and through cinema.

Questions of identity and representation have been prominent in film studies, including the proliferation of work produced on Chinese cinemas to date. However, the question of how identities may be circulated, and created, through cinema as a socio-cultural formation and industrial product remains to be further explored. For example, what role do genres play in identity formation and circulation? How do distribution networks and marketing practices impact on what kinds of Chinese films are produced and received? Is there a space that exists for multilingualism and cultural diversity within Chinese cinemas, and what implications might it have for how Chinese cinemas are conceptualised?

We invite proposals on the following or any other topic of relevance:
- The plurality of Chinese cultural, ethnic and linguistic identities in film
- Representations of Chineseness as self and other
- Historical adaptations and fictionalisations
- Construction of stars as the mythic embodiments of national identities
- Chinese characters, characterisation and characteristics in non-Chinese films
- Chinese diasporic filmmaking, including in South-east Asia, North America and the UK
- Genres in Chinese cinemas or Chinese genre-films?
- Theoretical explorations of ‘Chineseness’ in film
- Questions of identity and international co-productions
- The role of industry practice, e.g. casting, marketing, distribution, awards selection, etc.
- Reception of Chinese cinemas in local and foreign markets

Keynote speaker: Professor Chris Berry, King’s College London.

150-200 word proposals for papers or contributions and a short biography should be sent by 26th October 2012 to both Felicia Chan and Andy Willis.

Chinese Film Forum UK was founded to support the visibility and literacy of film from across the Chinese diaspora and is a joint venture between University of Manchester, University of Salford, Manchester Metropolitan University, the Confucius Institute, Chinese Arts Centre and Cornerhouse. Further information can be found at: http://www.cffuk.org

The Distribution and Exhibition of Chinese and Asian Cinema in the UK – CFFUK Symposium Report

Posted on July 23, 2012 by Emma Chibulu

By Dr Ming-Yeh T. Rawnsley

An innovative and fruitful symposium on The Distribution and Exhibition of Chinese and Asian Cinema in the UK took place in Manchester at the end of March 2012 organised by an AHRC-funded research network, the Chinese Film Forum UK (CFFUK). It facilitated discussions between film scholars, programmers and filmmakers to reach a fuller understanding on why it is difficult for Chinese and Asian films to reach UK audiences.

The symposium tackled the issues and challenges of distribution and exhibition from three dimensions. Firstly, it built an intellectual discourse on the current paradox, i.e., on the one hand there is a growing number of enthusiasts for Asian cinema in the UK, but on the other hand, hardly any of the Asian films adored by fans find their way onto UK cinema screens. Secondly, panels were organised to illuminate the conditions and factors that practitioners take into account when they decide to feature a Chinese/Asian film in festival programmes or to schedule film screenings in a local art-house cinema. Thirdly, the symposium unravelled certain policy blind-spots especially regarding the lack of funding for British-Chinese filmmakers, which may partly explain the almost nonexistence of British-Chinese film productions in the landscape of Chinese and Asian cinema in the UK. Continue reading →