China Institute Film Series: Sinomatheque

We had the pleasure of visiting the China Institute when we were in New York in May. The Institute does a fantastic job of bringing exclusive and leading-edge cultural exhibits to the United States direct from the People's Republic of China.

Super, Girls!, with director JIAN Yi Saturday, October 24, 2009 An open discussion with director, JIAN Yi, will follow the screening. SUPER, GIRLS! (73 min., JIAN Yi, 2007, Mandarin w/English subtitles), 4:30 - 6:00 PM
 

'Mainstream' life is fairly underrepresented in independent Chinese documentaries as filmmakers tend to focus more on the society's underprivileged groups. Yet 'mainstream' life in fast changing societies like China's can be as different as Red Guards in 1960s, poets in 1980s, businessmen in 1990s and the 'Super-girls' in 2000s. What are the values of the family's-only-child generation?  How do they release their tremendous extra energy and money and embrace a globalized culture?

 

China should not be just the playground for banks and corporations. China's new generation of independent filmmakers look into the present-day mainstream culture and document and scrutinize this crazy and confusing time of the nation's history." -Jian Yi JIAN Yi (Chinese: 简艺; pinyin: jiǎn yì) is a Chinese independent filmmaker, visual artist, and writer.

 

He received an MA in International Peace Studies from University of Notre Dame in 1998 and an MA in International Journalism from Beijing Broadcasting Institute in 1999. He is the founder & director of ARTiSIMPLE Studio which was founded in January 2005 and has pioneered the art of collaborative community and citizen projects.  He launched the IFCHINA pilot project in Ji'an of Jiangxi, China in 2008-09 with Douglas Xiao and Eva Song.

 

Jian Yi is a Starr Foundation Fellowship grantee ('07-'08) under the New York-based Asian Cultural Council, a Fellow ('08-'10) of the India-China Fellowship at the New School in New York City and a Visiting Fellow ('07) at CRASSH of Cambridge University. Jian Yi is one of the Yale World Fellows appointed by Yale University in the year 2009. He is one of the three Chinese national finalists selected by the British Council for its 2007 International Young Film Entrepreneur of the Year award. He has worked as a filmmaker and senior art consultant for a number of European Union projects in China. In 2005-06, he partnered with premier documentary filmmaker

 

Wu Wenguang to launch the China Villager Documentary Project. Jian's photos on China's village governance toured the nation's seven provinces as well as the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels and the European Parliament in Strasburg.

 

ADMISSION: $8 for non-members and $5 for members. Popcorn and refreshments will be served.

 

Seating is LIMITED. Reservations are on a first-come, first-served basis.

 

Please visit www.chinainstitute.org/edu/sinomatheque for tickets.

 

For further information, please contact sinomatheque@chinainstitute.org, or 212-744-8181 x150.

 

China Institute advances a deeper understanding of China through programs in education, culture, business and art in the belief that cross-cultural understanding strengthens our global community. dGenerate Films is committed to bringing visionary cinema and uncensored content from China's truly independent filmmakers to the U.S. For more information, please visit www.dgeneratefilms.com.

China Institute 125 East 65th Street New York, New York 10065