Created with a view to recording the evolution of Chinese-speaking cultures, the non-profit organization Chinese Next (CNEX) initiated its documentary project two years ago by disbursing money to aspiring filmmakers.
ideal-oriented festival
Last year’s theme was the role of money in society. This year, 10 new films were produced under the rubric of dreams, hopes and ideals and will be screened at the CNEX Documentary Film Festival.
Highlights of this year’s festival include: Shanghai Farmers (阿拉民工), which examines how Chinese peasants leaving home to work odd jobs in Shanghai view the concept of happiness; Ancient Species (紅穀子), in which a group of Yunnan Province farmers go organic and rediscover an ancient strain of rice and cultivate it using revived ancient techniques; and Music and Life (音樂人生), a film from Hong Kong that paints an emotionally-charged portrait of the talented but existentially-challenged young piano prodigy Wong Ka-jeng (黃家正), now 17.
The festival’s only Taiwanese production, Hip-Hop Storm (街舞狂潮), follows the fast-paced lives of hip-hop artists from two generations. The first group features 34-year-old A-lun on tour, performing in contests in his bid to put Taiwanese hip-hop on the map. The second features a group of teenage street dancers who perform simply for the fun of it.
focus on social injustice
The large number of Chinese jury members on the selection committee limited the lineup’s scope to social issues, festival director Wu Fan (吳凡) said. The selected projects mostly focus on social injustices rather than experiment with other subjects and cinematic styles.
Apart from the CNEX-funded works, the festival showcases approximately 40 films that explore the meanings of dreams and hopes in different corners of the world.
In Children of God, War Dance and Puujee, children from different cultures wish for different things, from reliving lost childhoods, to attending school, to escaping the grip
of poverty.
Other festival highlights include four documentaries
by German director Werner Herzog. Whether it is the airship engineer in White Diamond, the Swiss ski jumper in The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner
or the grizzly bear activist in Grizzle Man, Herzog turns his lens, from a critical distance, to whimsical characters and their daring struggles for self-realization.
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