Independent Filmmaking in China: The Age of Dissent1 min read
Reading Time: < 1 minuteEvan Osnos’s post today about the newly intensified suppression of dissent in China comes, sadly, as no surprise for viewers of Chinese movies.
Even if there isn’t anything made in the past few weeks to show the news from the street, the attitude of the Chinese government toward those citizens who seek democratic representation and basic human rights is apparent from such recent documentaries as “Fengming,” “Petition,” and “I Wish I Knew,” as well as from dramatic feature films (such as the daring works of Ying Liang, including “The Other Half”).
Well, here’s news from Kevin Lee, of dGenerate Films, the maven and indefatigable herald of independent Chinese cinema, regarding the state, or fate, of cinema in this moment of tightening screws.
In his post this week about a recent Chinese documentary, “Karamay” (which I haven’t seen) and the responses to Chinese citizens to it, Kevin quotes the independent producer Zhu Rikun: “Compared to other kinds of political activities, independent filmmaking is not as risky.”
