[KineJapan] Nonaka's Camera—CIFA Launch in Newcastle

[Markus Nornes]

I'm in Newcastle for the launch of the extraordinary Chinese Independent
Film Archive <https://www.chinaindiefilm.org>. This is a multi-pronged
archival project based in northern England that is collecting films, paper
materials and various ephemera connected to the Chinese indies——which is to
say material that no archive in the PRC would touch. Indeed, the government
literally confiscated the previous attempt at an archive at the Li Xianting
Film Fund.

They are also publishing a really impressive journal coming at the
independent scene from various angles. Japanese film scholars need to check
out the first issue, which looks at the many links between Japan and
independent Chinese cinema. It's no exaggeration to say that Japanese
connections, projects, travel, festivals, etc. etc. played a decisive role
in inspiring and supporting a handful of young filmmakers to carve out a
non-official production space in the PRC in the early 1990s. Here is the
Japan Connections issue, which was co-edited by Ma Ran and Akiyama Tamako.
<https://www.chinaindiefilm.org/issue-1-sino-japanese-connections-in-independent-film-cultures-1989-2020/>
All
the issues are book length (!) and online, with the exception of the latest
issue (on censorship, and deemed too sensitive to put online at this
moment).

The current week-long launch in Newcastle includes a stunning exhibition of
posters by designer/filmmaker Wang Wo. A dozen screenings and installations
with artists present. And an amazing room devoted to Hu Jie.

You might have heard about Hu Jie or seen his films. Most recently, I
noticed him in the New York Times last week
<https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/21/opinion/china-underground-historians.html?smid=url-share>.
Hu makes films that are as remarkably unpolished as they are powerful. The
man is fearless. The exhibit displays his woodcuts, journals, film notes, a
breathtaking relic from Lin Zhao (from his 2004 *Searching for Lin Zhao's
Soul*).....and his camera.

There are two connections between this camera and Japan.

The first is that it's a Sony Hi-8 camcorder. The other is that it is
likely (needs confirmation, but I'm sure this is the case) the camera that
Nonaka Akihiro donated to a Beijing office he established in the early
1990s as an experiment in alternative journalism. Nonaka is the leader of
Asia Press, which is still around <https://www.asiapress.org>. His idea
back then was to exploit the new camcorders to get local camerapeople to
shoot material that would then circulate around Asia media, both as footage
or finished works. One of these cameras went to Beijing, where it was used
by Feng Yan, Ji Dan and Hu Jie. All three became the first leaders of the
new Chinese documentary. (Feng and Ji and in Newcastle; Hu Jie fell ill and
sent his son in his place.)

This is one of those cameras.

[image: IMG_3969 copy.jpg]
One of those cameras that seeds new cinema in other parts of the world,
like the camera Joris Ivens left with the Communists after shooting The *400
Million.* Or the camera Chris Marker and Co. shot May 68 with, which was
sent to Ogawa Pro in Sanrizuka, which in turn donated it to Byun Young-Joo
who had just started her trilogy on comfort women.

Nonaka is an important figure in tv documentary in Japan. To learn more
about him, check out this essay
<https://www.chinaindiefilm.org/when-currents-collide-chinese-independent-cinema-and-japan/>
by Akiyama and this interview
<https://www.chinaindiefilm.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Chinese-Independent-Documentarys-Hidden-History-With-Japan-An-In-Depth-Conversation-With-Producer-Journalist-NONAKA-Akihiro-.pdf>
by Tsuchiya Masaaki.

There. I made something of my jet lag!

Markus


---

*Markus Nornes*
*Professor of Asian Cinema*

Department of Film, Television and Media, Department of Asian Languages and
Cultures, Penny Stamps School of Art & Design




*Homepage: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~nornes/
<http://www-personal.umich.edu/~nornes/>*
*Department of Film, Television and Media*
*6348 North Quad*
*105 S. State Street**Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1285*
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.yale.edu/pipermail/kinejapan/attachments/20230927/b7c7cc6e/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: IMG_3969 copy.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 514812 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mailman.yale.edu/pipermail/kinejapan/attachments/20230927/b7c7cc6e/attachment-0001.jpg>