User:Huskyrt/New Documentary Movement
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China's New Documentary Movement is a film and television movement beginning in the early 1990s that aimed to portray Chinese citizens using "on-the-spot realism" (Chinese: 纪实主义; pinyin: jishi zhuyi) in contrast to the state-sponsored socialist realism xianshi zhuyi (现实主义).[1]
History
The New Documentary Movement began forming around the same time as the 1989 Tiananmen Democracy Movement in response to the country's market reforms.[1] The movement provided an alternative to the national documentaries and newsreels with voiceover approved by the state, taking interest in letting subjects speak more spontaneously. It is considered a part of the Sixth Generation of Chinese cinema. The term was coined in 1992 at a small meeting of directors in Zhang Yuan's home. Television was also gaining popularity, and people in the industry had both the access and interest to pursue innovations in investigative journalism.
The rise of digital video cameras also accompanied the movement, increasing access to filmmaking. The New Documentary Movement was also in conversation with the Western film theory of Direct Cinema. Frederick Wiseman, an American documentarian known for his fly on the wall style in filming institutions, was invited to China by Duan Jinchuan and Wu Wenguang in 1997.[1]
The movement's re-interpretations of realism also contributed to the style of filming in China's narrative movies, state news programs, and social media trends.
Significant works
| Year | English title | Chinese title | Director(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Bumming in Beijing: The Last Dreamers | 流浪北京 | Wu Wenguang | First independent Chinese documentary on struggling freelance artists |
| 1991 | Tiananmen | 天安门 | Shi Jian, Chen Jue | Miniseries produced for CCTV, but banned |
| 1993 | Big Tree County | 大树乡 | Hao Zhiqiang | |
| 1994 | The Square | 广场 | Zhang Yuan, Duan Jinchuan | |
| 1995 | The Other Bank | 彼岸 | Jiang Yue | |
| 2001 | The Box | 盒子 | Ying Weiwei | First Chinese documentary on a lesbian couple |
| 2002 | Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks | 铁西区 | Wang Bing |