In the Global Times, Lance Crayon profiles the Indie Film Forum launched by the Ullens Center for Contempoary Art in Beijing, one of the rare venues for screening Chinese independent films in China. Most recently the UCCA hosted director Huang Weikai as he screened and discussed his work.
Excerpt:
The outpouring of Chinese documentaries over the past decade has inspired and impressed audiences all over the world. However, the problem for audiences on the Chinese mainland is that accessing such films isn’t always easy. One forum in particular that provides a platform for such work to be enjoyed while at the same time giving Chinese filmmakers an opportunity to discuss their work with the public is the Indie Film Forum, which hosts monthly screenings at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA) in the 798 Art Zone. Meng Xie, UCCA’s art cinema programmer, helped launch the Indie Film Forum two years ago. Since then, he’s witnessed growing interest from the public in new works from domestic filmmakers. Last Saturday, the Indie Film Forum screened two documentaries from Guangzhou filmmaker Huang Weikai. His films were chosen because they feature “true stories of ordinary people,” Meng explained. “Like most of the filmmakers we’ve already invited to this series, Huang’s films focus on issues not in mainstream media coverage. However, he doesn’t only document reality; he also experiments by manipulating reality, like with his film Disorder,” Meng said, referring to Huang’s 2009 documentary that examines Guangzhou’s rapid urbanization.
Read the full article on the Global Times.
Learn more about Huang Weikai and his film Disorder, part of the dGenerate catalog.