[Commlist] CfP: Reassessing Chinese Independent Cinema: Past, Present… and Future?

*Reassessing Chinese Independent Cinema: Past, Present… and Future?*

Conference

5-6 June 2020

Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne

Call for Paper Proposals:

If Wu Wenguang’s Bumming in Beijing (流浪北京, 1990) is considered to mark 
the birth of independent cinema in the People’s Republic of China 
(hereafter China) that cinema will be celebrating its 30th birthday in 
2020. But if independence is defined as meaning production without 
government permission, China’s first film law in 2017 was understood by 
many as making that practice illegal. The intervening decades saw the 
emergence of a broader film culture supporting this filmmaking, from 
film festivals to film criticism, but also this culture’s metamorphosis 
under pressure from both state and market. Can we still speak of 
independent cinema in the PRC, and if so, what does it mean to do so?

This seems to be a good moment to take stock of the past, present and 
future of Chinese independent film. We seek papers that address the 
current and future state of independent filmmaking in China, but also 
our understanding of this practice and its history. After thirty years, 
there is a significant body of literature on the subject, in a range of 
languages. What have we learned? What is missing? And what is still to 
be done?
Topics addressed could include, but are not limited to: the history of 
the definition of independent film in China and its current 
transformation; the distribution and exhibition of Chinese independent 
film inside and outside China; the production practices of independent 
filmmakers; the role of emerging independent film producers and 
production companies; independent film’s relationship to the media 
industries and visual arts; Chinese independent cinema’s trans-border 
connections; gender, sexuality, ethnicity and other identity questions 
in front of and behind the Chinese independent cinema camera; the ethics 
and politics of independent production in China; the preservation and 
legacy of Chinese independent film culture, and more.

The confirmed speakers include Chris Berry, Markus Nornes, Luke 
Robinson, Wu Wenguang, Sabrina Q. Yu, Xianmin Zhang, Yingjin Zhang and 
Zhen Zhang.

We accept both proposals for individual papers (200 words) and for 
pre-formed panels (200 words per paper and 200 words for the panel). All 
proposal should not be previously published or committed, as our 
intention is to edit a book based on the papers presented at the 
conference. Please include a bio for each speaker (70 words).

Deadline for Receipt of Papers: 10 December 2019. Please send to: 
(cifnuk /at/ outlook.com) <mailto:(cifnuk /at/ outlook.com)>

This conference is part of a UK Arts and Humanities Research 
Council-funded project entitled ‘Independent Cinema in China: State, 
Market and Film Culture’.

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