Berlin Indie Chinese Cinema Week 2023

? After months of preparation, CiLENS is proudly presenting the 2nd edition of Berlin Indie Chinese Cinema Week (ICCW), which will take place from October 20th to 28th at our cinema partner SİNEMA TRANSTOPIA！

The ALL-FEMALE ICCW 2023 team will present 7 feature films, 9 shorts, many of which are Berlin/German premieres, accompanied with a panel discussion entitled *Authenticity Unframed: Navigating the Real and Reel in Chinese Indie Cinema*.

This year's curation theme, “Bridging Horizons through the Sinophone: The Fareway and The Everyday”, demonstrates our ambition to explore in-depth the diversity and interconnectedness within the Chinese-speaking world. Our curatorship continues to focus on socio-political issues of women/gender, migration, and urbanization depicted in the works of Chinese filmmakers.

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? Tickets open now ? https://sinematranstopia.com/en/cooperations/iccw-2023-bridging-horizons-through-the-sinophone-the-faraway-and-the-everyday/

? 7 euros

? October 20 - 28

? SİNEMA TRANSTOPIA

Lindower Str. 20/22/Haus C, 13347 Berlin, Germany

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Below you can find our full line-up! Read more details and grab your tickets via the links:

? Feature Films

推拿 Blind Massage *Opening Film*

In a Nanjing massage centre run by the blind, damaged bodies find solace in sensitive hands, where the arrival of a new couple sparks a captivating tale of seduction, suffering, and the relentless pursuit of love within the community in LOU Ye's most unique film.

? https://sinematranstopia.com/en/cooperations/iccw-2023-bridging-horizons-through-the-sinophone-the-faraway-and-the-everyday/tui-na

青春 Youth (Spring)

In a factory town, friendships and love affairs are made and unmade between young migrant workers.

? https://sinematranstopia.com/en/cooperations/iccw-2023-bridging-horizons-through-the-sinophone-the-faraway-and-the-everyday/qing-chun

古巴花旦 Havana Divas + 相爱的柯比与史蒂芬 Coby and Stephen in Love

This duo screening invites you to step into the enchanting tales of the Chinese diaspora across the two Americas.

? https://sinematranstopia.com/en/cooperations/iccw-2023-bridging-horizons-through-the-sinophone-the-faraway-and-the-everyday/chinese-divas-in-motion-films-by-luka-yuanyuan-yang-carlo-nasisse-and-shiyu-louisa-wei

光之子 Daughter of the Light

The film follows 13-year-old Metok Karpo's quest to reunite with her divorced father in Tibet, exploring the clash of old and new in her changing homeland.

? https://sinematranstopia.com/en/cooperations/iccw-2023-bridging-horizons-through-the-sinophone-the-faraway-and-the-everyday/guang-zhi-zi

石史诗 A Marble Travelogue

In this Chinese-Dutch documentary, we take a voyage alongside Greek marble blocks as they traverse across continents on an intricate economic circuit encompassing both Chinese and European cultural brokers; we will see not only the evolution of marble and its transnational production chain but also the fluid dynamics between China and the world in a globalised era.

? https://sinematranstopia.com/en/cooperations/iccw-2023-bridging-horizons-through-the-sinophone-the-faraway-and-the-everyday/shi-shi-shi

中华坏女人 Bad Women of China

The film spans a century and three generations of women, exploring their lives, desires, and the enduring impact of love and trauma amidst political and social revolutions.

? https://sinematranstopia.com/en/cooperations/iccw-2023-bridging-horizons-through-the-sinophone-the-faraway-and-the-everyday/zhong-hua-huai-nv-ren

永安镇故事集 Ripples of Life

Set in a small town, this film explores the inner thoughts and perspectives of four characters as they prepare for a shoot, delving into the meaning of cinema and capturing a unique power dynamic between cosmopolitan filmmakers and rural residents.

? https://sinematranstopia.com/en/cooperations/iccw-2023-bridging-horizons-through-the-sinophone-the-faraway-and-the-everyday/yong-an-zhen-gu-shi-ji

? Short Film Program

Remaking history and memory

Symptomatic Silence of Complicit Forgetting juxtaposes stories from three different eras in China, creating a parallel universe where humans and spirits coexist, it delves into collective unconscious silences based on the notion of “Complicit Forgetting”.

An Asian Ghost History employs the research on Wig Export Policy as a point of entry, blending fact and fiction and reconstructing the delicate tension between American imperialism and East Asian geopolitics during the Cold War.

The Making of Crime Scenes utilizes 3D printing technology and actor interpretations to recreate a political assassination in Taiwan, examining how public and private memories are constructed and perceived.

? https://sinematranstopia.com/en/cooperations/iccw-2023-bridging-horizons-through-the-sinophone-the-faraway-and-the-everyday/short-film-program-re-making-history-and-memory

• 共谋失忆症 Symptomatic Silence of Complicit Forgetting
• 九龙东往事 An Asian Ghost Story
• 事件现场制造 The Making of Crime Scenes

Re-examing the mundane

32+4 confronts the most intimate traumas in families with the lens.

The Silence of Hands captures the laboring hands of Xinjiang female workers, portraying a setting where both workers and the photographer mutually gaze upon each other, and where the processes of fabric and image production unfold in tandem.

A Dog under Bridge adopts a dog's viewpoint, absurdly gazing at the loneliness of city dwellers.

The Golden Horse Award-winning animated short film Compound Eyes of Tropical revisits Southeast Asian folktales through the eyes of a fly, reflecting the dynamic interplay of cultural identities, ethnicities and the transitional essence of both local and global contexts.

Before the Flight turns to Filipino domestic workers in Macau, diverging from mainstream narratives about marginalized groups, showcasing the emotions and experiences of these women within their ethnic communities."

? https://sinematranstopia.com/en/cooperations/iccw-2023-bridging-horizons-through-the-sinophone-the-faraway-and-the-everyday/short-film-program-re-examining-the-mundane

• 32+4
• 手的沉默 The Silence of Hands
• 大桥遗犬 A Dog under Bridge
• 阿姐的假期 Before The Flight
• 热带复眼 Compund Eyes of Tropical

? Opening Night

The opening night of ICCW 2023 kicks off with a screening by Lou Ye, one of the most prominent directors from contemporary Chinese cinema, followed by a reception where we welcome a wide range of friends and guests of film, art, media, music and culture to mingle and celebrate together.

? Panel Discussion

This year, we're focusing on the concept of "authenticity" and we've gathered a lineup of speakers from various fields to explore how history, production, curation and viewership shape the representations of “reality” in Chinese Indie Cinema.

?? In addition to the core program, we're also teaming up with Naiguan Film to extend the unique cinematic experience to Paris! There will be 3 special ICCW screenings in Paris from Oct 24 - 26.

? Mark down your calendar and stay tuned - we can’t wait to see you (again) in the cinema in October!

Follow us on IG @cilens.berlin to stay updated! We will have huge giveaways coming up ?

Host or Publisher C/LENS