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The ChinaFilm Project
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The ChinaFilm Project The ChinaFilm Project is an independent, international, non-profit cultural and educational organization dedicated to using film and other visual media and moving images to foster mutual understanding, respect, and appreciation between the peoples of the U.S. and China. To carry out our mission, we are committed to developing programs at universities, film festivals, museums, libraries, and other non-theatrical venues in the U.S., China, and elsewhere in the world. We are especially interested in improving the quality of Asian Studies in the U.S. and American Studies in China.
WORLD-WIDE COLLABORATORS AND CLIENTS:
The recent collaborators and clients of The ChinaFilm Project and Dr. Hal Weaver include prestigious and influential institutions--universities, film festivals, and museums--in Greater China and the United States, as well as in other countries in Asia, Europe, Africa, and North America:
U.S.A: Harvard University Yale University Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), New York University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Ohio State University University of Redlands College of the Atlantic Weber State University University of Chicago University of Washington University of Pennsylvania Temple University Howard University Virginia Union University Clarke-Atlanta Peabody Essex Museum, MA Denver International Film Festival University of Colorado-Denver DePaw University Princeton University Harverford University Vermont International Film Festival New Orleans International Film Festival
GREATER CHINA: Beijing Film Academy Beijing University Zhejiang Radio and TV University Sichuan University Guangzhou Foreign Studies University National Chiao Tung University (National Jiao Tong University), Taiwan Xi’an Qujiang Film & TV Investment (Group) Ltd., Xian American Studies Association annual meeting, Guangzhou and Kunming Beijing U.S.A. College of English, "Beijing U.S.A Film Festival"
OTHER COUNTRIES IN EUROPE, AFRICA, ASIA, and NORTH AMERICA: UNESCO University of Liverpool, UK University of Muenster, Germany University of Paris VIII-Vicennes/St. Denis, France McGill University, Canada Amiens International Film Festival, France Zanzibar International Film Festival, Tanzania FESPACO (Pan-African Film Festival), Ouagadougou, Burkina Fasso Carthage International Film Festival, Tunisia African Film Festival, Montreal, Canada Laval University, Quebec City, Canada Commenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia University of Montreal, Canada University of Toronto, Canada McMasters University, Hamilton, Ontario TADIA International Conference, Goa, India University of Dakar, Senegal Sir Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada Dapper Museum, Paris
THREE MAJOR COMPEMENTS:
Through festivals, screenings, and retrospectives in the U.S., we present outstanding Chinese films and filmmakers demonstrating boldness and innovation in art, industry, and communications medium.
In the U.S. we use innovative, creative formats and materials. We aim at facilitating (a) an American appreciation and understanding of Chinese cinema as art, industry, and communications medium and (b) an American appreciation and understanding of Chinese history, culture, and society. We use workshops, panels, colloquia, symposia, in-house and external screenings (clips and full-length), a circulating library, and multi-media shows. Finally, we collaborate with the U.S. and Chinese universities, film festivals, museums, film studios, and other organizations interested in the educational and cultural uses of film. We aim at having major Greater Chinese films (on 35 MM, 16 MM, DVD, VCD, videocassette, and other forms of new technology) available at a major U.S. university repository on a permanent basis. This will provide for the continued study, preservation, and non-theatrical exhibition of Greater Chinese films by non-profit, non-governmental individuals and entities. We expect to acquire 1, 000 Chinese films and videos. At the present time, we have more than 500 films on DVD, VCD, and VHS.
BRIEF PROJECT BACKGROUND:
The ChinaFilm Project, founded in 2002 at the initiative of the Harvard Film Archive's Associate Director John Gianvito, brought together two active educators with considerable experience in organizing cross-cultural film festivals, workshops for educators, retrospectives, and seminars: Mr. Jia Zhijie, a Chinese language teacher at Harvard, and Dr. Hal Weaver, a Fellow at the Du Bois Research Institute at Harvard. At the Harvard Film Archive, Mr. Jia had previously organized a Tribute to Zhou Xiaowen (1998), a Tribute to Zhang Yuan (2000), and The Urban Generation of Chinese Filmmakers (2001). Since 1974, when he founded the Third-World Moving Images Project, Dr. Hal Weaver has been exhibiting Chinese and other Third-World films at universities, adult-education institutes, and museums in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Africa, and Europe. In 1976, beginning at Laval University, Quebec City, Canada, where he was teaching and curating an exhibition on “The Art of Political Cinemas,” Dr. Weaver began offering university courses in North America on National Cinemas, including Chinese films.
SELECTED ACTIVITIES OF THE PROJECT AND DR. WEAVER:
2002:
June
Gave lecture-film presentations at various Chinese universities: Beijing University, Zhejiang Radio and TV University, and Guangzhou Foreign Studies University (American Studies Conference).Topic: "The Hollywood Dream Factory and American Realities." He also visited the Beijing Film Academy to arrange for the November visit of a high-level BFA delegation to Harvard University and to observe film-studies classes.
15-24 November
Celebration of Chinese Cinema at the Harvard Film Archive, Harvard University *Organized and hosted a delegation from the Beijing Film Academy (BFA). Prof. Zhang Huijun, President of the Academy Prof. Xie Xiaojing, Dean of the Directing Department Prof. Liu Yibing, Dean of the Scriptwriting Department Prof. Wang Honghai, Dean of the Department of Fine Arts Prof. Huan Yingxia, Dean of the Department of Recording Miss Min Chen, International Affairs Officer *Organized Fifth-Generation and Sixth-Generation screenings. Guest filmmakers from China included DAZZLING director Li Xin and producer Sara Chen. *Organized Workshop for University and Museum Educators Harvard and Yale were among the dozen universities and museums represented. Prof. Rey Chow, the distinguished scholar and Professor at Brown University, gave the keynote address prior to the dialogue between Fifth-Generation Chinese scholars/filmmakers/administrators from the BFA and U.S. film professors and museum administrators at major institutions.
2003:
Spring Semester
* Served as a Visiting Professor in the English and American Studies Department at National Chiao Tung University (National Jiao Tong University), Taiwan.
Fall
* Organized Celebration of Chinese Cinema at Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA. A film retrospective in conjunction with the 19th-century house moved and reconstructed from Anhui Province: Yin Yu Tang, a late Qing Dynasty Merchant’s house.
2005:
4-27 April
* Organized a trans-continental tour for independent Chinese filmmaker-writer Guo Xiaolu with her film, “The Concrete Revolution.? Institutions scheduling Guo for her coast-to-coast tour included Harvard University, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, University of Colorado-Denver (Starz Center), Westtown School, Pendle Hill, College of the Atlantic, De Pauw University, the University of Redlands, and International House/Philadelphia.
June
* Participated in the American Studies Conference in Kunming, Yunnan, sponsored by the American Studies Association and the China Education Trust * Participated in the Shanghai International Film Festival and film forums in Beijing and Shanghai sponsored by the Asian Film Studies Association.
July
* Served as president of the international jury of the Zanzibar International Film Festival.
2006:
January
* Curated a film series in Goa, India: "Cinematic Images and Sounds from Africa and the African Diaspora."
April
* Participated in the opening ceremonies of the Xi’an Qujiang Film & TV Investment (Group) Ltd. He presented a lecture: “The ChinaFilm Project: Bridging Two Countries" and participated in a roundtable on the future of Chinese cinema.
July
* Conceived and inspired a UNESCO-sponsored conference in Zanzibar, Tanzania: " Images and Memory of Slavery: Can Cinema Fathom the Tragedy of the Slave Trade?" Dr. Weaver presented his lecture: "Black Filmmakers on Slavery and the Slave Trade: Setting the Cinematic Record Straight."
November
* Organized a cross-country tour for the distinguished filmmakers Mr. Wu Tianming (godfather of the Fifth Generation) and his producer, Ms. Luo Xueying, to U.S. universities and an international film festival. Institutions scheduling Mr. Wu and Ms. Luo include Yale University, the University of Colorado-Denver, the Denver International Film Festival (where Wu will receive a special honor), the University of Chicago, Ohio State University, the University of Redlands, Weber State University, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Ohio State University, and the University of Washington.
2007:
May
* Offered a presentation, “Black Filmmakers on Slavery and the Slave Trade: Setting the Cinematic Record Straight”, for the “ Journée Nationale Pour la Mémoire de L’esclavage in Musée Dapper, Paris on 10 May 2007.
July
* Served as President, UNESCO-appointed Jury at the ZIFF (Zanzibar International Film Festival): ‘Breaking the Chains’ Prize for the best film on slavery and slave trade in July 2007.
November
* Offering a lecture-film presentation on William Klein’s “Eldridge Cleaver, Panther” in Baltimore, sponsor: the Maryland College of Art.
* Offering a lecture-film presentation, “Black Filmmakers on Slavery and the Slave Trade,” at Harvard University.
2008 (Projected)
* Offering lecture-film programs in Mexico, Barbados, Houston, Zanzibar, et al.
KEY STAFF:
Dr. Hal Weaver (weaverhal@yahoo.com), Principal Curator of The ChinaFilm Project and The BlackFilm Project, and Non-Resident Fellow, Du Bois Research Institute, Harvard University. Dr. Hal Weaver is a pioneer in teaching, research, and non-theatrical exhibition of international films (especially Chinese and African), offering the world’s first course on African cinema at Rutgers University in 1972. Weaver has taught, lectured, and published on Third-World films in various countries in Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas. He has participated on juries of film festivals: Vues d'Afrique in Montreal, Canada; the first President of the Pan-African Jury for the Paul Robeson Prize at the Pan-African Film Festival of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; and President of the international jury at the Festival of the Dhow Countries/Zanzibar International Film Festival, Tanzania. He has organized national film retrospectives in Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America, and North America. His current focus is using films to enhance cross-cultural understanding and respect for the U.S., China, Africa, and the African Diaspora through The ChinaFilm Project and The BlackFilm Project.
Min Chen (lynn_1126@yahoo.com), Program Officer Min Chen, formerly an International Affairs Officer at the Beijing Film Academy, joined The ChinaFilm Project on 1 February 2006. Min was born and raised in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province. She got her BA at the Foreign Affairs College, a unit of the PRC Foreign Ministry, in English and International Studies, specializing in Diplomacy. In December 2005 she received her double Master’s in Political Science and Communications/Journalism from the University of Oregon. Her special interests are media and public policy and the political economy of the Chinese film industry.
** For more information please consult The ChinaFilm Project Website (www.ChinaFilmProject.org).
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