{"id":18,"date":"2019-05-15T11:00:30","date_gmt":"2019-05-15T11:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.confuciusinstitute.ac.uk\/chinese-film-documentaries\/?page_id=18"},"modified":"2019-05-17T13:31:00","modified_gmt":"2019-05-17T13:31:00","slug":"wu-wenguang-and-the-folk-memory-project-31-may-2019","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.confuciusinstitute.ac.uk\/chinese-film-documentaries\/wu-wenguang-and-the-folk-memory-project-31-may-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Wu Wenguang and the folk memory project: 31 May, 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Friday 31 May 2019, 2pm-7pm<\/strong>
\nVenue: 50 George Square, G.04 Screening Room<\/strong><\/p>\n

This event is free, but booking is essential. To book, please click HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Knocking on Memory\u2019s Door with the Video Camera. A handful of people took video cameras and went back to their respective villages. They went in search of the old generation that was still living there in dim, stark houses. They went to uncover the memories hidden deep inside them. Each filmmaker had some prior relationship to the village. Some of them were born or grew up there, some still live there, some had never lived in the village but had parents or grandparents who had. For the old people in the village, this was the first time anyone had come with a camera to ask them to open their memory chests. Here was the younger generation, leaping over their parents\u2019 generation\u2013 that generation wiped clean of memory- to ask the elders about the past. This meeting may be awkward and uncomfortable but it is also an exciting adventure. Their stories are now documentary films presented in this program. <\/em>[Wu Wenguang: The Art of Unforgetting: Folk Memory Project]<\/p>\n

We are delighted to welcome China\u2019s foremost independent documentary filmmaker back to the University of Edinburgh to present his most recent projects. Join us for an inspiring Friday afternoon of cutting edge documentary in China, insightful lectures, discussions and \u201cmeet the artist\u201d conversations over drinks and nibbles. <\/em>[Natascha Gentz, Director, Confucius Institute for Scotland]<\/p>\n

Programme: <\/strong><\/p>\n

14.00 \u2013 15.30 Film: Investigating my Father\u00a0(Wu Wenguang)<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 15.30 Tea & Coffee <\/em><\/p>\n

16.00 \u2013 17.00 Presentation: The\u00a0 Art of Unforgetting: Folk Memory Project<\/p>\n

(Wu Wenguang & Zhang Mengqi)<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a017.00 Drinks & Canapees<\/em><\/p>\n

17.30 \u2013 19.00\u00a0 Film: Self-portrait: Sphex in 47 KM\u00a0(Zhang Mengqi)<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0Drinks reception<\/em><\/p>\n

This event is free, but booking is essential. To book, please click HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

About the Presenters<\/h2>\n

\"\"Wu <\/strong>Wenguang<\/strong> is the internationally acknowledged doyen of Chinese independent documentary, producing acclaimed \u201cunofficial\u201d films in China since the late 1980s. In 2005 he created the Caochangdi Workstation as an independent space to focus on oral history and to document individual stories during particular difficult historical periods including the \u201cThree year famine\u201d, the \u201cGreat Leap Forward,\u201d the \u201cLand Reform\u201d and the \u201cCultural Revolution\u201d. This massive project is intended to create an independent folk memory archive, now involving 20 filmmakers, more than 200 participants going back to their villages for interviews, with more 1500 interviewees from more than 300 villages.<\/p>\n

\"\"Zhang Mengqi<\/strong> was trained as a dancer and joined Caochangdi as filmmaker and choreographer in 2009. Her films have been presented at international film festivals in China, Japan and Europe. The film presented in Edinburgh will complete her 8 \u201cself-portrait series\u201d.<\/p>\n

About the Films<\/h2>\n

Investigating My Father<\/strong><\/p>\n

Directed, edited by Wu Wenguang<\/p>\n

80 min. \/2016<\/p>\n

Filmmaker\u2019s words:<\/p>\n

This film made by a son to investing his father\u2019s history that how to changed from a man of the \u201cold society\u201d to a man of the \u201cnew society\u201d after 1949. This \u201cson\u201d is myself. So the film is about a story between my and my father as well. it\u2019s premiere in TIDF.<\/p>\n

Self-Portrait: Window in 47 KM<\/strong><\/p>\n

Directed, photographed, edited by: Zhang Mengqi<\/p>\n

Length:110mins<\/p>\n

2019.3<\/p>\n

Filmmaker\u2019s words:<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is the 8th film in my documentary series \u201c47 km.\u201d<\/p>\n

An 85-year-old man sits under Mao Zedong\u2019s portrait and, as the sun sets, recalls his revolutionary history in pursuit of \u201cNew China.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a 15-year-old girl named Fanghong walks through the village with her paintbrush, knocking on the doors of elders\u2019 dark rooms, sitting before them to draw their portraits. She\u2019s like a ray of light illuminating their memories and ruins.<\/p>\n

I followed Fanghong, and together we built a window for 47 km village.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Friday 31 May 2019, 2pm-7pm Venue: 50 George Square, G.04 Screening Room This event is free, but booking is essential. To book, please click HERE. Knocking on Memory\u2019s Door with the Video Camera. A handful of people took video cameras and went back to their respective villages. They went in search of the old generation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.confuciusinstitute.ac.uk\/chinese-film-documentaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.confuciusinstitute.ac.uk\/chinese-film-documentaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.confuciusinstitute.ac.uk\/chinese-film-documentaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.confuciusinstitute.ac.uk\/chinese-film-documentaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.confuciusinstitute.ac.uk\/chinese-film-documentaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/www.confuciusinstitute.ac.uk\/chinese-film-documentaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88,"href":"http:\/\/www.confuciusinstitute.ac.uk\/chinese-film-documentaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18\/revisions\/88"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.confuciusinstitute.ac.uk\/chinese-film-documentaries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}