MCLC: interview with Li Xianting

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: Kevin B Lee <kevin at dgeneratefilms.com>
Subject: interview with Li Xianting
***********************************************************

Note: I take no responsibility for the silly title, it was imposed by the
editor after I submitted the interview.

Kevin

===========================================================

Source: 
http://www.indiewire.com/article/big-trouble-in-china-festival-director-li-
speaks-out-about-beijing-independent-film-fest-shut-down

[August 18] China¹s independent film community faced their latest setback
when the Beijing Independent Film Festival was forced to cancel its public
screenings upon pressure from local authorities.  This was the third
consecutive cancellation of a festival sponsored by the Li Xianting Film
Fund, which has been organizing independent film screenings in Beijing for
over a decade.

Since its inception, the Film Fund¹s activities have faced scrutiny from
government officials, as public film exhibitions in China are typically
required to pass approval from the State Administration for Radio, Film
and Television (SARFT).  But with the tacit, unofficial approval of local
authorities, the Film Fund was allowed to operate uninterrupted for its
first seven years.

READ MORE: Beijing Indie Film Festival Goes Dark After Record Turnout,
Heads Underground 
<http://www.indiewire.com/article/beijing-indie-film-festival-goes-dark-aft
er-record-turnout-heads-underground>

Last year, within an increasingly sensitive political climate in China,
the Film Fund¹s two events, the Beijing Documentary Film Festival and the
Beijing Independent Film Festival, were both shut down. Both festivals
have served as key destinations for filmmakers, critics, programmers and
fans of Chinese cinema, as they afford first looks of many key independent
films from that country, several of which eventually circulate in
festivals around the world. The venues also provide a rare opportunity for
the independent film community throughout China to gather and discuss
films.

This year the two festivals merged to become the 9th Beijing Independent
Film Festival, which unveiled a slate of over 100 titles scheduled over
nine days of screenings and talks, a record lineup that was all the more
ambitious given the recent setbacks. The Film Fund is led by contemporary
art critic and curator Li Xianting, who is one of the key figures in
bringing China¹s burgeoning art scene to international prominence over the
last three decades. Kevin B. Lee spoke with Li on behalf of Indiewire
following the cancellation of the festival¹s public screenings, to learn
what planning and discussions with authorities took place, the details of
the cancellation, the meaning of independent film in China, and the
festival¹s future.

What understanding did you have with the officials prior to the festival?

Before the festival, the government officials at the district and town
level had met with us. They had decided among themselves that we couldn¹t
hold the festival, but we tried our best to reason and negotiate with
them. The reason they gave for preventing us was taken from the State
Administration of Radio Film and Television (SARFT), which stipulates that
public film screenings need official approval, especially concerning
commercial films. But our argument is that what we screen are not ³films,²
they are ³images.² This is a precedent started by the DV movement, when
artists and amateurs started making audiovisual works. They are not
commercial; they are more works of individual expression, like works of
art. And you can¹t say that individual artworks need to undergo some kind
of regulation or approval. It¹s just not practical.

But they still did not agree. So we took a step back and decided to turn
the event into a party or reception.  And during the party we could show
some films.

Did they agree?

The village officials agreed to the reception but not the screening; the
town and county officials agreed to neither.

So at the opening reception, some officials from the district and town
arrived uninvited. They didn¹t say anything at first. When we started to
show the opening film, they told us to stop. Then in the middle of the
screening, the power went out. Then they called me and told me that there
was a power failure, and that they would try to fix it soon. But nothing
happened, and when we tried to contact them back via phone or text
message, they wouldn¹t reply. Eventually we moved back to our Film Fund
offices to continue the screenings.

This was the largest event in the history of the festival. If the festival
organizers didn¹t have full permission, why take the risk?

The risk is always there, but we always insist that independent film is a
kind of art. And by the same token, our activity gathered hundreds of
people, but in this Songzhuang art district, there are art events that can
attract more than 10,000 visitors, so why intervene with our event?

And perhaps some of these works contain documentary material that some
find sensitive. Someone asked me what the authorities are afraid of, and I
said, ³They¹re afraid of reality.² But in truth, most of the works do not
have sensitive material; there are only a relative few of them.  And the
emphasis is not on the political aspect of these works, but on their
artistic qualities.  Our main purpose is to encourage the multiplicity of
creative individual expression and encompass the full scope of audiovisual
art being produced today.  And art needs freedom of expression.  Maybe
others take this for granted as common sense, but unfortunately in China,
and maybe for some officials, it takes time to understand what is common
sense.

So what happened at this festival is really a part of a long, ongoing
process.

Yes, and this is what I¹ve done as a contemporary art critic in China for
30 years. I started my interest in Chinese independent film around 2000.
By that time, the environment for contemporary art in China had already
made significant progress. It seemed that Chinese independent film was in
need of more help. Now those 30 years of progress in the contemporary art
world were not handed to us, it was a struggle. Artists have always had to
fight for their freedom to create. And again, when I speak of freedom, I
am not speaking about political freedom, but simply the freedom of
creative expression.

Here in China, the significance of the phenomenon of independent film is
that film as an artistic medium is no longer under the control of a few.
Instead, more and more people can use DV technology to express themselves.
It seems the most important thing is that there is more independence and
freedom of expression in China.