Clarissa Sebag-Montefiore reports for IPS:
The Sixth Beijing Independent Film Festival (BIFF) has had to switch venues twice following pressure by the police, obliging the organisers to inform festival-goers of the last-minute location changes. BIFF, now in its sixth year, is showing over 50 cutting-edge feature films, documentaries, experimental works and animations in Songzhuang, a village on the outskirts of Beijing which is known as a hub for its avant-garde artistic community. The meddling by the authorities – while stopping short of shutting down the festival itself – has thrown into the spotlight the heavy scrutiny that the independent arts face in China by the one-party state. Karin Chien, founder of dGenerate Films, a New York-based distribution company that specialises in distributing independent Chinese film to audiences worldwide, says she that was not surprised by the most recent interference from the authorities. “Authorities caused BIFF to change venues twice, to the point where screenings were being held in the festival’s headquarters,” Chien, who was present at the launch event, wrote to IPS in an email. ‘So when the police showed up to stop the first screening, it wasn’t a surprise. The documentary version of BIFF was canceled by the authorities in May, so I suppose we were all holding our breath to see what would happen this time.”
Read the full report at IPS
Click through to access the full program of The 6th Beijing Independent Film Festival
(compiled by Genevieve Carmel)
General Program Curator: Hao Jian
Art Director: Wang Hongwei
General Programmers: Hao Jian, Gan Lin, Liu Yonghong, Wang Hongwei
Forum Hosts: Zhu Rikun, Hao Jian, Yang Yang
Fiction
HELP Hu Yichuan
ADULT MAGAZINE Zhao Xianzu
WINTER SPRING Chen Zhimin
THE SENTIMENTAL ANIMAL Wu Quan
HUAN HUAN Song Chuan
THE DITCH Wang Bing
LOST IN THE MIRROR Ruoban
TOO MUCH CO2 Lai Jinkun
HEAT WAVE Qi Zhonghua
EMBRACING NOT SLEEP YongLee
THE TOWER OF IMMORALITY Zhao Kai
FOLLOW THE SHADOW Xiao Han
BLIND WHITE Sun Shi
THE HEDGEHOG Shi Nuo
FOUR COWARDS Mai Mai
TWENTY DOLLARS Lam See Chit
FLYING TRAIN He Suosi
TRIBULUS TERRESTRIS Deng Li
MY FATHER Li Pisen
Documentary (Programmed by Zhu Rikun and Wang Hongwei)
25 WORDS Liu Shen
APUDA He Yuan
NO COUNTRY FOR PRIVATE HOUSES He Liren
DOCUMENTARY
PATHWAY Xu Xin
THE NEXT LIFE Fan Jian
BEIJING BESIEGED BY WASTE Wang Jiu-liang
SHATTERED Xu Tong
A VILLAGE WITH TWO Zha Xiaoyuan
THE HULLING RICE RECORD Gui Shuzhong
THE COLD WINTER Zheng Kuo
THE OPAQUE GOD Gu Tao and Zhou Yu
THE JOURNEY OF POETRY AND DISEASE Geng Jun
GAS Lin Xin WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS Ji Dan
THE UNFINISHED HISTORY OF LIFE Cong Feng
MOTHER WANG PEIYING Hu Jie
PORTABLE OCCUPATION Xiao Ben
5+5 Xu Xing and Andrea Cavazzuti
FADING REFLECTIONS Sha Qing
MY MOTHER’S RHAPSODY Qiu Jiongjiong
SOLEMN TRANQUILITY Zhang Zanbo
A VIEW OUT OF MY WINDOW Yu Wenhao
MOST BEAUTIFUL DAY Yu Wenhao
Experimental (Programmed by Zhang Haitao)
A CERTAIN PERSON ON A CERTAIN DAY AT A CERTAIN TIME AT 798 ART DISTRICT Bai Budan
ARCHITECTURE Xu Ruotao
STRUCTURE OF CRYSTAL II Zhao Yu
THE EMPTY ROOM Hu Yangyi
A WORM Han Qiang
I TRAVEL THROUGH TIME TO MEET YOU AGAIN Yang Zhengfan
YOU SAVED ME ON YOUR HAND Chang Po-Yang
DISAPPEARING IN GREEN GRASS, WILD GRASS, AND DUCKWEED Zhang Zanbo
DUST Peng Xiang
AROMA Peng Xiang
Animation (Programmed by Wang Bo)
CITY INTRODUCTION Wang Zhan
THE BLUE HOUSE Gao Siyang and Yang Tianheng
FACE Zhang Tongyue
THE WALL Gu Zhihai
APPLE PICKING Chai Mi
TOGETHER FOREVER Ma Manjie
CHASING Wu Chao
African Section (Programmed by Gertjan Zuilhof and Zhu Rikun)
LI XIA’S SALON Omelga Mthiyane
SNAKE Samson ‘Xenson’ Ssenkaaba
FIRE FLY Caroline Kamya
ZUT! Amour Sauveur Memy
Retrospective Section about Satoh Makoto (Programmed by Zhu Rikun and Hiroki Nakayama)
LIVING ON THE RIVER AGANO Satoh Makoto
MEMORIES OF AGANO Satoh Makoto
OUT OF PLACE MEMORIES OF EDWARD SAID Satoh Makoto
Special Screening Section
CELESTIAL KINGDOM Wang Chao
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