top of page

DOCUMENTARIES

1428

Du Haibin

1428

Du Haibin's award-winning documentary of the earthquake that devastated China's Sichuan province in 2008 explores how victims, citizens and government respond to a national tragedy.

2009

BEFORE THE FLOOD II - GONG TAN

Yan Yu

BEFORE THE FLOOD II - GONG TAN

Yan Yu follows BEFORE THE FLOOD with this profile of the residents of Gongtan, a 1700-year-old village soon to be demolished by a hydroelectric dam project.

2008

BLUE ISLAND

Chan Tze-Woon

BLUE ISLAND

Conceived in 2017 and filmed over 5 years, BLUE ISLAND confronts the large-scale 2019 protests in Hong Kong. The past, the present and the future converge within a relentlessly documenting lens. Winner of the Hot Docs Grand Prize.

2022

DIGITAL UNDERGROUND IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC

Rachel Tejada

DIGITAL UNDERGROUND IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC

Six documentary shorts chronicle the changing state of China's independent, and underground, film scene.

2008

FANGSHAN CHURCH

Xu Xin

FANGSHAN CHURCH

The inner workings of a Christian community in rural China, whose ways of life and worship are threatened by the world around them.

2005

FORTUNE TELLER

Xu Tong

FORTUNE TELLER

The life of a countryside fortune teller provides a candid and deeply revelatory look at people living on the fringes of Chinese society.

2010

INSIDE THE RED BRICK WALL

Hong Kong Documentary Filmmakers (Anonymous)

INSIDE THE RED BRICK WALL

In 2019, the world was captivated by pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. INSIDE THE RED BRICK WALL takes us into the heart of one of these protests: the two-week occupation and siege of Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

2020

LATE SUMMER

Yi Cui

LATE SUMMER

LATE SUMMER captures a centuries-old Beijing theatre in its incarnation as a modern-day transient space.

2016

MOTHERS

Xu Huijing

MOTHERS

A gripping cinema verite documentary that shows how China's one-child policy plays out in the daily lives of women in one Chinese village.

2013

OF SHADOWS

Yi Cui

OF SHADOWS

A rare glimpse into the nomadic lives of master puppeteers, against the backdrop of a country in constant transition.

2016

SAN YUAN LI

Ou Ning, Cao Fei

SAN YUAN LI

Armed with video cameras, twelve artists present a highly stylized portrait of SAN YUAN LI, a traditional village besieged by China's urban sprawl.

2003

STREET LIFE

Zhao Dayong

STREET LIFE

The hidden lives of homeless migrants who survive in the shadows of one of Shanghai's most affluent and historic streets.

2006

TA'ANG

Wang Bing

TA'ANG

A powerful and revealing observational documentary that follows members of the Ta’ang minority as they flee to China to escape an ongoing and escalating civil war.

2016

THE EAST WIND STATE FARM

Hu Jie

THE EAST WIND STATE FARM

An extraordinary film re-examining the tragic events of Chinese modern history during the height of Maoist rule, featuring dozens of extensive interviews with both inmates and staff who served through three decades of the camp's existence.

2009

THE QUESTIONING

Zhu Rikun

THE QUESTIONING

At 12 o'clock at night, policemen came to our room and started a so-called 'room inspection.' As they began to knock at the door, I turned on a small camcorder. This film is the record of what followed.

2013

THREE SISTERS

Wang Bing

THREE SISTERS

One of his generation's most important documentary filmmakers, director Wang Bing introduces viewers to 10-year-old YingYing, 6-year-old Zhenzhen and 4-year-old Fenfen, who live alone in Xiyangtang, a tiny rural village in the high mountains of China's Yunnan province.

2012

TIMBER GANG (AKA LAST LUMBERJACKS)

Yu Guangyi

TIMBER GANG (AKA LAST LUMBERJACKS)

This stunning debut explores a grueling winter amongst loggers in Northeast China, as they work with traditional methods through one last, fateful expedition.

2006

USING

Zhou Hao

USING

An unusual relationship develops between a Chinese couple struggling with heroin and a filmmaker chronicling their addiction, in this provocative documenrtary on drug abuse, filmmaking and friendship.

2008

WHAT'S FOR DINNER?

Jian Yi

WHAT'S FOR DINNER?

Meat consumption in China is skyrocketing; what does it mean for sustainability, public health, food security, climate change, and animal welfare?

2013

YOUTH (HOMECOMING)

Wang Bing

YOUTH (HOMECOMING)

YOUTH (Homecoming) is the final installment in Wang Bing’s ambitious trilogy on the young workers of Zhili, shot over five years — a powerful record of the unseen young labor force that drives garment production at a steep personal cost.

2024

ALL ABOUT MY SISTERS

Qiong Wang

ALL ABOUT MY SISTERS

In her debut film, director Qiong Wang builds a riveting portrait of her family reckoning with the lasting impact of China's one-child policy.

2021

BEIJING BESIEGED BY WASTE

Wang Jiuliang

BEIJING BESIEGED BY WASTE

Wang Jiuliang travels to more than 500 landfills, documenting Beijing's unholy cycle of consumption.

2011

CHINA CONCERTO

Bo Wang

CHINA CONCERTO

An observational essay about public spectacles in contemporary China.

2012

DISORDER

Huang Weikai

DISORDER

Footage from a dozen amateur videographers becomes a symphony of urban social dysfunction in China.

2009

FEMALE DIRECTORS

Yang Mingming

FEMALE DIRECTORS

When job prospects elude them, two twenty-something art school graduates decide to film each other's lives instead.

2012

GAI SHANXI AND HER SISTERS

Ban Zhongyi

GAI SHANXI AND HER SISTERS

The story of one woman's brutal ordeal as a "comfort woman" for the Japanese Army during World War II.

2007

ISLAND IN BETWEEN

S. Leo Chiang

ISLAND IN BETWEEN

A personal, poetic look at the uneasy peace on the frontline between Taiwan and China. ISLAND IN BETWEEN explores the uneasy peace in these islands, and contemplates Taiwan's uncertain future.

2023

LOST COURSE

Jill Li

LOST COURSE

When corrupt officials illegally sell villagers’ land, the villagers rise up in an unprecedented experiment in democracy.

2020

MY FATHER'S HOUSE

Zhao Dayong, David Bandurski

MY FATHER'S HOUSE

The story of an underground church founded by Nigerian missionaries offers a rare glimpse inside an immigrant African community in China.

2011

OUTCRY AND WHISPER

Wen Hai, Zeng Jinyan, Trish McAdam

OUTCRY AND WHISPER

A highly personal and sometimes uncomfortably intimate documentary chronicling women’s oppression and resistance in mainland China and Hong Kong.

2020

SEARCHING FOR LIN ZHAO'S SOUL

Hu Jie

SEARCHING FOR LIN ZHAO'S SOUL

A landmark documentary on the gifted young poet who spoke out at the height of Chairman Mao's rule... and her subsequent fate.

2004

STRUGGLE

Shu Haolun

STRUGGLE

Explores the cruel realities of sweatshop labor and workplace injury in China, and one lawyer's mission to defend worker's rights.

2001

TAKING BACK THE LEGISLATURE

Hong Kong Documentary Filmmakers (Anonymous)

TAKING BACK THE LEGISLATURE

In 2019, the world was captivated by pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. Made without commentary, INSIDE THE RED BRICK WALL captures the urgency and chaos of the protests.

2020

THE IRON MINISTRY

J.P. Sniadecki

THE IRON MINISTRY

Filmed over three years on China's railways, J. P. Sniadecki's masterful, critically acclaimed documentary traces the vast interiors of a country on the move.

2014

THE TRANSITION PERIOD

Zhou Hao

THE TRANSITION PERIOD

With unprecedented access to a Communist Party leader, investigative filmmaker Zhou Hao offers a startlingly candid look inside Chinese politics at the local level.

2009

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

Yi Cui

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

On a high-land Tibetan pasture, a screening event unfolds quietly. Monks, herdsmen and their families gather by the screen to observe life captured through their own lenses.

2017

TORCH TROUPES

Xu Xin

TORCH TROUPES

In this vivid portrait of China's musical heritage, Sichuan Opera performers strive to keep a centuries-old artform alive.

2006

WE ARE THE ... OF COMMUNISM

Cui Zi’en

WE ARE THE ... OF COMMUNISM

The mysterious closing of a Beijing school sends hundreds of migrant children on a desperate struggle to reclaim their right to an education.

2007

WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS

Ji Dan

WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS

Directed by one of China's preeminent female filmmakers, this masterful documentary at once explores the particular dynamics of one family and exposes the widespread difficulties faced by migrants living at the margins of Chinese society.

2012

YOUTH (SPRING)

Wang Bing

YOUTH (SPRING)

Filmed over six years, this master documentarian's latest project offers an immersive and profoundly moving glimpse into the grueling daily lives of young textile laborers in Zhili, China.

2023

BEFORE THE FLOOD

Li Yifan and Yan Yu

BEFORE THE FLOOD

The residents of the historic Chinese city of Fengjie clash with officials forcing them to evacuate their homes to make way for the world's largest dam.

2005

BITTER MONEY

Wang Bing

BITTER MONEY

Documents China's rapid economic and social transformation by following the rural workers who leave their Yunnan hometown to move to the city of Huzhou to work in its textile factories.

2016

DEAD SOULS

Wang Bing

DEAD SOULS

Dead Souls documents the testimony of survivors of the hard-labor camp in the Gobi Desert in Gansu, China.

2018

DONG

Jia Zhangke

DONG

The great filmmaker Jia Zhangke travels with acclaimed painter Liu Xiaodong to Thailand where they meet workers in the throes of social turmoil.

2008

FLOATING

Huang Weikai

FLOATING

"The most influential, introspective independent documentary film since the 90s." - Film Art

2005

GHOST TOWN

Zhao Dayong

GHOST TOWN

A remote village in southwest China is haunted by traces of its cultural past while its residents piece together their existence.

2008

KARAMAY

Xu Xin

KARAMAY

In Karamay, filmmaker Xu Xin helps a community break the silence nearly two decades after a horrible fire killed nearly 300 schoolchildren.

2010

MEISHI STREET

Ou Ning

MEISHI STREET

Ordinary citizens take a stand against the planned destruction of their homes to make way forthe 2008 Beijing Olympics.

2006

NOSTALGIA

Shu Haolun

NOSTALGIA

Acclaimed filmmaker Shu Haolun explores the culture and history of his Shanghai neighborhood upon its impending destruction.

2006

QUEER CHINA, 'COMRADE' CHINA

Cui Zi’en

QUEER CHINA, 'COMRADE' CHINA

Considered China's first queer novelist and filmmaker, Cui Zi'en puts forth nothing less than the most authoritative account of queer cultural history in China to date.

2008

SPARK

Hu Jie

SPARK

In this incendiary film, artist Hu Jie shares the testimony of the brave survivors of the political magazine Spark for the first time.

2019

SUPER, GIRLS!

Jian Yi

SUPER, GIRLS!

Follows ten young women on their quest to become instant superstars on China's biggest television show.

2007

TAPE

Li Ning

TAPE

Performance artist Li Ning turns his life into art in this epic work of experimental documentary.

2010

THE OBSERVER

Rita Andreetti

THE OBSERVER

A sensitive portrait that explores the commitment, tenacity and personal toll of China's greatest historical documentary maker.

2019

THOUGH I AM GONE

Hu Jie

THOUGH I AM GONE

Pioneering artist Hu Jie uncovers the shocking story of girls' school headmistress who was beaten to death by her students during the Cultural Revolution.

2007

TIL MADNESS DO US PART

Wang Bing

TIL MADNESS DO US PART

Using handheld camerawork and digital video, this extraordinary documentary interrogates mental illness and criminality, therapy and incarceration, and the relationship between individuals and society. Riveting, terrifying, tender—and unforgettable.

2013

UMBRELLA...

Du Haibin

UMBRELLA...

Filmed in five different regions of China, UMBRELLA provides a telling look at the vast changes that have taken place in Chinese society.

2007

WE THE WORKERS

Wen Hai (Producer: Zeng Jinyan)

WE THE WORKERS

Follow labor activists as they find common ground with workers and help them negotiate with local officials and factory owners over wages and working conditions.

2017

YOUTH (HARD TIMES)

Wang Bing

YOUTH (HARD TIMES)

YOUTH (HARD TIMES) is the second installment in Chinese director Wang Bing’s monumental series chronicling the lives of migrant garment workers.

2024

bottom of page