Film Screening + Q&A | Chinese independent film: No Desire to Hide

Curators' Words:

China’s Underground Film Handbook -The Showcase of ZHU Rikun’s Work

In Wenhai's book "Gaze of Exile: Witnessing Chinese Independent Documentary", ZHU Rikun is described as follows: "He is recognized in the circle as the 'handbook of China’s underground film ', ' you’d like to know something about Chinese underground film? Ask ZHU Rikun!'". Among the history of Chinese independent film that began in the early 1990s, Zhu is such an important existence that cannot be ignored at all stages. Especially those who have participated in or paid attention to the Chinese independent film field during the fleeting "glorious moment" in this process must be very familiar with ZHU Rikun and the Chinese independent film platform “f anHall” founded by him in 2001. This popular platform at the time was forced to shut down in 2011, and only resumed normal access during the epidemic in 2020. It's just that the Chinese independent film ecology and the development of digital technology at this time are completely different from the BBS age (2001-2010). But “fanhall.com” is like a flag, reassuring as long as it's there.

From 2001 to 2011, Zhu Rikun produced and distributed many important independent documentaries, founded one of the earliest independent film festivals in China, "China Independent Documentary Week" (2003), and founded and curated the “Beijing Independent Film Festival” (2006), being a jury member at Locarno Film Festival (2011), etc. He once said that in fact, there were more or less threats (from authorities) every year when independent film festivals are held, but after 2010, this threat has become a systemic problem. After 2012, Zhu Rikun was physically and mentally exhausted from promoting independent films, and he began to turn to filmmaking. In 2013, he created his first documentary short, The Questioning.

There is often a perspective and strength from the author's activism that runs through his films. And ZHU Rikun's latest work No Desire to Hide, with Cinéma-vérité as the main approach, explores the living conditions of a highly controversial young filmmaker Wu Haohao and his girlfriend Ge Ningning. According to the director, the film also has a feminist perspective, which is different from his previous films.

The selections for this month are No Desire to Hide, The Questioning and Anni

Sheng, Hanqi written in Hamburg

RIPARIAN: Chinese Independent Film Showcase Hamburg

1/2 Screening in September

+19:00 Screening

+21:00 Post-Screening Q&A with ZHU Rikun

Location:

Seminarraum (4. Stock / 4th floor), Fabrique im Gängeviertel,

Valentinskamp 34A｜20355 Hamburg

Tickets:

Free entrace+Donation at the location

The event will be held in English and Chinese.

"No Desire to Hide" is Zhu Rikun's latest documentary work. The film shows the ordinary lives of young people in China with all their romantic problems, unfulfilled dreams and existential crises which are interwoven into everyday dialogues and conversations with the director. The two central protagonists try to function in an open relationship, which suits only one of the partners, while the other suffers and longs for a family life. The possibility of emigrating to America is a hope, but it is gradually receding due to the worsening political situation. The camera captures even the most intimate moments and puts the viewer in the position of a voyeur observing the exposed bodies and souls.

2021 Best Original Approach at Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival

2022 Taiwan International Documentary Film Festival

One of the immediate reasons for making this film was because I was contacted by WU Haohao four or five years ago. Because I was spending more time in the US at that time, he wondered how he could come to the US as well. He wanted to come over here, which is to say, he wanted to immigrate. But before that, while he had been surfing on the Internet and using social softwares, he would often claim that he was a person who loved China. In Chinese society, he would claim to be a patriot, for example, he would always claim to be a lover of MAO Zedong and XI Jinping, and then he was also particularly passionate about his country. That was a particularly interesting thing to me, so I said then maybe I can film you, and he was very quick to agree. So I booked a flight to Taiyuan, a city in central China, to film him. From that time onwards, I shot the film for more than a year, and then I edited it into this film, so that's probably how it came about.

ZHU Rikun was born in 1976 in Guangdong, he is a film director and curator.

He founded fanHall platform in 2001 and focused on independent film production, exhibition and curation. In 2003，he organized the very first Documentary Film Festival China, which merged with Beijing Independent Film Festival in 2006. ZHU worked as artistic supervisor of Beijing Independent Film Festival from 2006 to 2011.

ZHU has also served as a jury member in Locarno Film Festival, Hong Kong International Film Festival and Asian Film Festival in Rome. He was also a visiting researcher at Keio University and a visiting curator at Burns Film Center. He has published several books about independent film in China, such as “The Shadow Impulse” and “Independent Records”.

The major works of ZHU include No Desire to Hide, Anni, The Questioning and Dang An, etc. His work has been selected and awarded by many prestigious film festivals including Locarno Film Festival, Amsterdam International Documentary Festival and Taiwan International Documentary Film Festival.

Riparian Chinese Independent Film Showcase is a film project initiated by Hanqi Sheng and Zhichao Zhu, two filmmakers who are based in Hamburg.

The festival focuses on different types of Chinese language art-house films. By presenting the works of independent filmmakers and video artists (with post-screening Q & A), the showcase presents a non-biased perspective of contemporary Chinese independent art cinema, provides a field for communication beyond boundaries, and enriches the diverse cultural ecology in Hamburg.

The film festival features monthly screenings in the Kino of HFBK Hamburg, and occasional workshops and forums in different urban spaces. The aim is to connect with each other through screenings and to encourage free expression through film.

Special thanks to HFBK Hamburg Film Department for their academic and resource support for this event.

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If you want to recommend us good independent films from your country, please contact us! Maybe later we could collaborate on special screening sessions.

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