The 9th China Independent Film Festival(CIFF) will be held in Nanjing from November 16 through to November 22, 2012. Planned and organized by film critics, scholars, curators, filmmakers, etc, the CIFF was founded in 2003, and after 9 years development, CIFF has been one of the most important platforms to showcase Chinese avant-garde films, and find Chinese avant-garde filmmakers, as well as a main door for the international professional film industry to learn the real ecology of Chinese films, and uncovers the really noteworthy films and filmmakers. The CIFF is a spectacular annual meeting for Chinese independent film creators, with both a professional character and folk character.
The CIFF commits itself to be the purest film festival in China, advocating creative freedom, artistic exploration and social responsibility, selecting the best films of the year for audiences and insiders through the four dimensions of being liberal minded, open, presenting a new style and forward-looking.
The 9th CIFF is composed of a competition unit of feature-length films, a screening unit of top 10 documentaries of the year, a screening unit of top 10 shorts of the year, a screening unit of feature-length films, a screening unit of documentaries, and a screening unit of shorts. In addition, 2012 Asian Experimental Film and Video Festival (EXIN) will be held as a priority activity of the 9th CIFF, and including academic seminars and more than 30 films screenings, as well as publishing a catalogue and anthology. And there’s an academic forum for an in-depth discussion on what Chinese films focus on. On the other hand, every night the filmmakers party will provide a more relaxed communication environment. The CIFF intends to build a platform for film-related people from all walks of life at home and abroad and promotes exchanges and cooperation. Please check and look for more detailed information updating soon.
Forum Topic: New Asia, New City, New Image
Time: November 16 – November 22, 2012 (a total of seven days)
Location: School of Journalism and Communication of Nanjing University (forum venue, screenings field), RCM Art Museum (operating base), Phylactery Studio (planning base)
Academic background of the forum
Experimental film, as an art form of film from the West, its status in Asian countries has been rarely known. When looking for the frame of reference of experimental film in Asia, people will unconsciously put their sights on the West, ignoring other far-eastern Asian countries ecologies (with the double levels of history and reality). Then such a situation emerges: people focus on overlooking far from the other hemisphere, while their vision of the close range are blurred by a false focus.
In fact, when experimental films are imported to Asian countries, because of their different backgrounds in politics, economics, and cultures, they have come across different circumstances, displaying different ecologies. If these situations are juxtaposed as a cultural landscape, cross reference and comparison, they are maybe able to produce a broader butterfly effect.
The situation changed in the fall of 2009, curators from main Asian countries in the field of experimental media, for the first time, gathered at Seoul Korea Forum(EXiS), which ushered in a new chapter of Asian experimental film. Then, 2010 EXiT Asian forum was held in Taipei in the fall of 2010, and EXiM Asian forum was held in Macau in 2011. Now, the 2012 Asian forum will push forward in Nanjing.
2012 Asian Experiental Film and Video Festival (EXIN) (2012·Nanjing), is divided into three parts: forum subject, film screenings, publishing a catalog and anthology. For the themed forum, they will invite first-class experts, scholars, filmmakers, directors and related celebrities to hold academic lectures and seminars. Meanwhile, film professionals from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and other European countries will be invited to participate in the activities of the forum, artists and critics from other countries and districts to deliver keynote speeches. Furthermore, the forum will organize special screenings of the latest production of experimental films.
Organization of the forum
Organizer: RCM Art Museum
Co-organizer: School of Journalism and Communication of Nanjing University, Institute of Media of Nanjing Arts Institute
Curating: Phylactery Studio (Nanjing)
Contractor: CIFF China Independent Film Festival (Nanjing)
Organizing Committee Sponsor: Hua Tian Independent Film Fund, South Gallery
Partner Institutions: Seoul EXIS Film Festival, Video Art Center in Tokyo, Association of Taipei “Movement – Image”, Oberhausen Film Festival, Germany
Partner Academies:
School of New Media Animation of Beijing Film Academy
Experimental Film Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts
Cross Media Institute of the China Academy of Art
School of Visual Arts of Shanghai Fudan University Institute of Theatre & Television of Nanjing University
Experimental Center of Media of the City University of Hong Kong
EXIN Organizing Committee: Cao Kai, Chen Yun, Lv Xiaoping, Zhang Haitao, Zhang Xianmin, Yang Cheng, Zhou Kai
Chen Yun (Execution Director of RCM Art Museum)
Yang Cheng (General Manager of Tian Hua Hua Tian Beijing Culture and Media Co., Ltd.)
Zhang Xianmin (Professor of Beijing Film Academy)
Lv Xiaoping (Professor of the Department of Theatre & Television in College of Liberal Arts, Nanjing University)
Zhou Kai (Associate Professor of the Department of Radio and Television and the New Media, of School of Journalism and Communication, Nanjing University)
Cao Kai (independent curator, contemporary artist)
Zhang Haitao (independent curator)
Curator: Zhang Haitao, Shen Chaofang, Wang Boqiao General Secretary: Qian Tingting
Artistic Director: Cao Kai
Artistic Advisor: Zhang Peili, Hu Jieming
General Situation of the Forum
A total number of about 20 people will give their speeches; about 40 people participate in the forum, including overseas guests, experts, scholars, authors, graduate student, as well as about 20 media representatives, and 50 seats for observers from media, colleges and academic institutions in Nanjing. There is a total of 150 seats. Each speaker introduces a basic situation and basic information in 20 minutes, by PPT or any other presentation. Every speech unit has 45 minutes for each spokesman and time for questions.
Speakers of the Forum:
Zhang Peili (contemporary artist, Professor of Cross Media Institute of the China Academy of Art)
Guan Huaibin (contemporary artist, Associate President and Professor of Cross Media Institute of the China Academy of Art)
Liu Xuguang ( experimental animation director, President and Professor of School of New Media Animation of Beijing Film Academy)
Hu Jieming (new media artist, Vice-President of School of Visual Arts of Shanghai Fudan University)
Zhang Xiaotao (experimental animation director, Dean of the Department of New Media of Sichuan Fine Art Institute)
Ou Ning (Chief Curator of Shenzhen-Hong Kong Architecture Biennale and editor of the literary magazine of the Days of the South )
Li Zhenhua (international new media curator living in Europe)
Qiu Anxiong (contemporary artist, experimental animation director)
Zhou Xiaohu (contemporary artist, experimental animation director)
Yang Beichen (film scholar, editor of ARTFORUM)
Zhang Haitao (independent curator, editor of Art File)
Shen Chaofang (independent curator, Lecturer of Department of New Media of Sichuan Fine Art Institute)
Deng Dafei (independent curator)
Wu Junhui (the godfather of Taiwan's experimental film, experimental film scholars)
Wen Jingying (experimental filmmaker, Assistant Professor of School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong)
Yan Xiaodong (responsible person of the Hong Kong Videotage, curator)
Bianca Lei (experimental filmmaker, Associate Professor of Macao Polytechnic Institute)
Sow-Yee Au (experimental filmmaker, Assistant Professor of Malaysia New Era College)
Hangjun LEE (experimental filmmakers, Chairman of EXiS Film Festival Seoul, Korea)
Ota Yao (experimental filmmaker, Japanese senior art critic)
Lukas Birk (Curator of Austrian independent film)
Zhou Fei (selecting films for Germany Oberhausen International Short Film Festival)
Films Screenings
Unit 1. Domestic Thematic Unit (Zhang Haitao, Shen Chaofang, Wang Boqiao): 12 sessions
Unit 2. Domestic Special Unit (Deng Dafei): 1 session
Unit 3. Asian Thematic Unit (Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand): 8 sessions
Unit 4. International Unit: 3 sessions
Unit 5. Artists' Case Unit (to be confirmed): 6 sessions ( in 2 days)
The totality is expected to hit 30 sessions.
Films screenings of important domestic experimental film artists: Zhang Peili, Wang Jianwei, Zhang Huan, Guan Huaibin, Song Dong, Yang Fudong, Cao Fei, Gao Shiqiang, Lu Yang, Hua Peng, ect.
Publication
The EXiN2012 Asian Experimental Film and Video Festival • Catalog
The EXiN2012 Asian Experimental Film and Video Festival • Anthology
The Catalogue and anthology of the forum are written by the forum planners, critics, directors, and will collect the relevant literature (description of works, historical overviews, concepts, etc). They will come off the press in a set of two volumes.
Catalogue (sextodecimo, 160 pages, offset paper)
Anthology (32mo, 250 pages, offset paper)
Poster (folio, full-color, coated paper)
Invitation (184×130mm, full-color, coated paper)
Courtesy of CAFA ART INFO.
