Zhang Xianmin (photo courtesy China Independent Film Festival)
One of our most valued partners is Zhang Xianmin, who is nothing less than a maven of the Chinese independent film scene. For over fifteen years he has worked as an actor, producer, scholar, critic, and programmer on various projects related to Chinese cinema. He serves most prominently as the man behind the China Independent Film Festival, one of the key hubs of the Chinese independent film circuit. (Check back Friday for a report on last year’s Festival).
We are pleased to announce that Zhang will be contributing a number of articles to the blog this year. His writing will give a distinct perspective on the Chinese film scene. For now, here are his top 40 Chinese films from 2000-2009. They are organized in four categories: Narrative Features, Experimental, Shorts and Documentaries.
The results of the dGenerate Best Chinese Films of the 2000s poll will be published tomorrow.
1. Narrative Features: Platform (Jia Zhangke) Devils on the Doorstep (Jiang Wen) Peacock (Gu Changwei) The Search (Wanma Caidan) Crossroads (Wang Jin) Oxhide (Liu Jiayin) Blind Shaft (Li Yang) The Other Half (Ying Liang) Betelnut (Yang Heng) Summer Palace (Lou Ye)
2. Experimental A Strange Heaven (Yang Fudong) The Red Flag Flies (Zhou Hongxiang) History of Chemistry 2 (Lu Chunsheng) San Yuan Li (Ou Ning and Cao Fei) Made in 1968 (Cao Kai) The Moment of Stone Sinking (Dong Wensheng) Not Too Close, Not Too Detached (Gan Xiao’er) Faith with Oxygen (Gao Shiqiang) Rough Poetry (Zhao Dayong) Unfinished (Li Ning)
3. Short films: Old Zhang and Little Zhang (Li Wen) Secret Tunnel (Xi Xueqing) Way Out (Chen Tao) Temperature of the Orange Skin (Huang Ji) Cai Wei (Zhao Ye, animation) Universe Candy Floss (Lei Lei, animation) Chatting (Meng Jun, animation) Red Sister (Zhang Gong, animation) Xi Hai Village (Gao Wendong) Rehearsal (Qiu Jiongjiong)
4. Documentary Along the Railway (Du Haibin) West of the Tracks (Wang Bing) The Storm (Jiang Yue, Duan Jinchuan) Petition (Zhao Liang) Ghost Town (Zhao Dayong) Dr. Ma’s Country Clinic (Cong Feng) Bing Ai (Feng Yan) Dream Walking (Huang Wenhai) Looking for Lin Zhao’s Soul (Hu Jie) Ximaojia’s Universe (Mao Chenyu)