Worth Your While: Indie Films Exhibition Comes to Beijing

The ScreenOut Film Exhibition, sponsored by Southern Metropolis Daily, began in Guangzhou in 2005 as a platform for showcasing indie and art films that might otherwise linger in obscurity. Over the years it has exposed audiences to gems like Lala's Gun, Jalainur and Knitting -- films that have won awards both domestic and foreign but which were overshadowed by the likes of Red Cliff and other should-be-forgotten big-budget blockbusters. Beginning Sunday, for the first time, the exhibition will happen outside Guangzhou, when 798's Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA) screens Old Fish at 1 p.m.

The exhibition continues with six more days of films, nine in total, concluding on April 28 with The Search, directed by Pema Tseden, who is the first Chinese director to film entirely in the Tibetan language (English and Chinese subtitles are available). Here is the full screening schedule, with film synopses (official website here). So far, six directors have confirmed their attendance at the exhibition, which means open Q-and-A sessions will be held after select screenings.

UCCA, which is honing its reputation among moviegoers, is hoping ScreenOut will help its in-house theater, Art Cinematheque, become a go-to place for indie and hard-to-find films. Organizers have grand plans, as UCCA's project manager of film programs, Xie Meng, and communications officer Rachel Zhu recently explained to us.

tbj: What are your long-term goals? What do you think Cinematheque can become in the greater scheme of film in Beijing and in China?

Xie: I always look at MoMA (Museum of Modern Art in New York) as an example for us. We don’t have a film archive right now, but my goal is to make the best use of our resources, so that means (borrowing) films from institutes or organizations and filmmakers, especially for Chinese films. Our short-term goal is to make more various programs and to create more opportunities to show these art films.

Zhu: Because we are in China, because of the whole censorship thing and the whole environment of the film industry, we have our own problems to deal with, but we're trying to bring good films to audiences.

tbj: What's the environment currently like for films in China?

Xie: Some films win big prizes at international film festivals, but when they get back in China they get some exposure in newspapers but nobody sees them once they get to theaters. And that creates a dilemma: there's not that much interest from the audience, so managers in the theater don't give them more time. So now they have only one or two weeks and then they will be locked in the closet somewhere.

Zhu: I think maybe in Beijing, especially as it's the capital of China and it's an art and cultural center, maybe there are a lot of art movie lovers hidden in this city but you can't tell from the commercially run cinema chains.

Xie: You can see from the press as well, in the entertainment section, they talk about the budget of a film, like, "That's the biggest budget film ever made in China film history." That kind of message is what makes people want to see films. They feel like big-budget films are worthwhile of their money. And producers too, they deliver those kinds of messages.

Zhu: People don’t talk about the movie's content.

Xie: So I think that's also why we want this space to become a meeting point for moviegoers, especially of art films. And it's the purpose of our department as well to educate more people so that they can enjoy the experience of art films and know about filmmaking history through some of our documentary programs or discussions with filmmakers.

tbj: Care to recommend a film for us? Feel free to say come see all of these.

Xie: Well, definitely come see all of these...

Most of these films are really hard to find anywhere else. Also, part of why we chose these films is because they're good films and can be enjoyed by everyone.