That was a bit dramatic and unexpected! I basically said what I just wrote. I arrived late to the screening-less opening ceremony, passed a contingent of thuggish and plainly bored plain clothes cops, and then was ceremoniously whisked to the front row and then put on stage to greet the audience. Of course, something great would happen, no matter what.īy the evening before, word was out: the authorities had told the festival they could hold symposia and discussions, but show no films. I understand many people gave up on going, assuming the festival was doomed. Everyone was expecting the worst for weeks, after the Li Hsiangting Film Institute’s school was forcibly disbanded. The festival’s opening night was fascinating, as predicted. The tenacious rambunctiousness and hopefulness of this community of filmmakers and programmers is so admirable. Last month I was lucky enough to attend the Beijing Independent Film Festival in Songzhuang, my third visit to this haven of artists on the very edge of the city. This year, he happened to be in Songzhuang again for BIFF 2013, and has kindly supplied us with his report, which follows below with a gallery of photos. Professor Abe Markus Nornes of University of Michigan wrote memorably about his visits to Yunfest in Yunnan and the China Documentary Festival in Songzhuang in “Bulldozers, Bibles, and Very Sharp Knives: The Chinese Independent Documentary Scene,” ( Film Quarterly 63, no.1, 2009).
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