Description:
Documentary film-making is one of the most vibrant areas of media activity in China, with many independent film-makers producing documentaries on a range of sensitive socio-political matters, often bringing a strongly ethical approach. This book outlines the development of documentary film-making in mainland China and Taiwan, contrasts independent documentaries with official state productions, considers the production and distribution of independent documentary film-makers, and discusses the range and content of the documentaries. The book demonstrates the success of Chinese independent documentary film-making, often winning award-winning titles and appearing at international film festivals.
Review Quotes:
'This is a fascinating work in the nascent and fledgling field of Chinese-language documentary studies. The authors masterfully demonstrate the ways in which documentary filmmakers have engaged fundamental issues confronting China and Taiwan: history and politics, ethics and truth, reality and place, gender and subjectivity, migration and cosmopolitanism, exhibition and circulation.' - Sheldon Lu, University of California at Davis, USA
'In this pioneering, illuminating book, Chiu and Zhang compare the trajectory in the development and international reception of new documentaries from Mainland China and Taiwan, which surged suddenly in the 1990s, remaining quite active through the present. The authors also insightfully explore issues of ethics, subjectivities, and migration in the Chinese-language documentaries from both areas. It is a must-read for anyone interested in Chinese/Taiwan Studies and/or Cinema/Documentary Studies.' - Daw-Ming Lee, Professor & Chair, Department of Filmmaking, Taipei National University of the Arts, Taiwan
'New Chinese-Language Documentaries is an exciting collaboration between a leading Taiwanese and a leading mainland-born scholar that extends English-language scholarship on Chinese-language documentary by encompassing Taiwanese productions and also coming bang up to date. In this deft and thorough book, Chiu and Zhang identify themes and topics such as gender, ethics, migration and how the films are distributed and exhibited to tease out commonalities and connections without ever losing sight of local specificity and difference. The result is both lucid and profound.' - Chris Berry, King's College London, UK
Chiu and Zhang flesh out this framework with insightful details from contemporary Chinese-speaking directors and their films. - B. M. McNeal, emerita, Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania