December 2006. Documentary Programme
Graduation Film Works of Beijing Film Academy Organizer: Caochangdi Workstation |  |
Curator's Words
We all come for documentaries but we have different viewpoint as to what is documentary. Tian Miao thinks documentary is to record, which gives his film some anthropological perception. Fan Jian and Wang Changjiang think documentary should not lose its sociological purpose, and they both use their cameras to observe a group of farmers who live in the city; what they concerned is social problems and people's living status. Gu Yaping shoots some women artists, accessing them, observing them, and exploring them, but who can say she is not gazing at an image of herself through the lens of camera? As a Taiwanese, Chung Chuan discusses Cross-Straits Relations and personal identifications in his film, bridging a gap between personal factors and political visions. Wang Hao used to be a doctor, and he draws doctors' living status in Chinese hospital in a very static and impersonal way. He insists documentary, like chronicle, should provide organized facts, not subjective views. On the contrary, Luo Shasha tries to tell that "Academic documentary" is not necessarily dull. In her opinion, documentary, as a way to mirror this world, can be sensuously pleasant and emotionally inspiring.
What we valued most are the differentiations among us. We dare not say we have understood what real documentary is. But after 3 years' trying, bumping and daring attempting, the life before our camera is much more real and vivid. Anyway, documentary is a way of recording, not the purpose.
We hope to appear as a group in this exhibition, to memorize the 3 years' life in Beijing Film Academy. We also hope the echoes from the exhibition can warm us, encourage us and drive us. We know we are not lonely .Then; we'll go on holding the camera, to freeze the time, to express, to communicate, to explore.
Hu Liubin
December,2006
2006-11-25 16:26:07