Chinese Independent Documentary III

Wu Wenguang and the Folk Memory Project

“Knocking on Memory’s Door with the Video Camera. A handful of people took video cameras and went back to their respective villages. They went in search of the old generation that was still living there in dim, stark houses. They went to uncover the memories hidden deep inside them…” Wu Wenguang: The Art of Unforgetting: Folk Memory Project

"We are delighted to welcome China’s foremost independent documentary filmmaker, Wu Wenguang, back to the University of Edinburgh to present his most recent projects, together with a new rising star in the field, Zhang Mengqi. Join us for an inspring Friday afternoon of cutting edge documentary in China, insightful lectures & discussions and 'meet the artists' conversations over drinks and nibbles." Natascha Gentz, Director, Confucius Institute for Scotland

Programme:

14.00 – 15.30 Film: Investigating my Father, Wu Wenguang

"My father was a landowner’s son and an ex-Kuomintang Air Force pilot, who remained in mainland China after 1949. For survival, he tried to transform himself from a man of the ‘old society’ to a man of the ‘new society’. As his son, I started investigating his ‘history before 1949’, which he had kept away from me. This film documents the process of my investigation over twenty years."

15.30 Tea & Coffee

16.00 – 17.00 Presentation: The Art of Unforgetting: Folk Memory Project, Wu Wenguang & Zhang Mengqi

From its inception in the summer of 2009 to the present day, this project has seen over 200 participants return to their villages across China, spanning 22 provinces and 323 villages, with more than 1500 subjects interviewed to date. Join us and listen to our filmmakers as they discuss the evolution and creation of this vast independent folk memory archive.

17.00 Drinks & Canapés

17.30 – 19.00 Film: Self-portrait: Sphex in 47 KM, Zhang Mengqi

"An 85-year-old man sits under Mao Zedong's portrait and, as the sun sets, recalls his revolutionary history in pursuit of 'New China'. Meanwhile, a 15-year-old girl named Fanghong walks through the village with her paintbrush, knocking on the doors of elders' dark rooms, sitting before them to draw their portraits. She's like a ray of light illuminating their memories and ruins. I followed Fanghong, and together we built a window for 47 km village."

19:00 Drinks Reception

Wu Wenguang is the internationally acclaimed doyen of Chinese independent documentary, producing award-winning independent films in China since the late 1980s. In 2005 he created the Caochangdi Workstation as a space to work with a cohort of young filmmakers with a focus on oral history and documenting individual stories during particular difficult historical periods including the “Three year famine”, the “Great Leap Forward,” the “Land Reform” and the “Cultural Revolution”.

Zhang Mengqi was trained as a dancer, graduating from the Minzu Univerisity Dance Academy in 2008. She joined Caochangdi as a filmmaker and choreographer in 2009. Her films evolving from the Folk Memory Project have been presented at international film festivals in China, Japan and Europe. The film shown in Edinburgh will complete her 8 “self-portrait series”.