MCLC: Seeing China--cfp

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: jenny chio (jenny.chio at uts.edu.au)
Subject: Seeing China--cfp
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CALL FOR WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS
DEADLINE: 15 APRIL 2012

³Seeing China: Documentary Films from the Yunnan Multi Culture Visual
Festival (Yunfest)²
Workshops & Film Screenings in Sydney, Australia

Workshop dates & themes:					
4 June 2012 ­ Activism and Aesthetics					
5 June 2012 ­ Documentary as a Research Method				

Public Film Screenings:
1-2 June 2012
7-8 June 2012

Organizers: Dr Jenny Chio and Professor Wanning Sun
China Research Centre
University of Technology, Sydney (UTS)		
Contact: Jenny.Chio at uts.edu.au

Independent documentary film production inside the People¹s Republic of
China has flourished in the past twenty years and shows no sign of
abating, despite increased public and political attention to Chinese
filmmakers and their projects. ³Seeing China² will explore the range of
contemporary practices in documentary filmmaking in China today with
screenings of recent documentaries, most selected from the Yunfest
catalogue.  Two day-long workshops at the University of Technology,
Sydney, led by Chinese filmmakers, scholars, and the lead curator of
Yunfest, will provide an opportunity for researchers to explore
documentary filmmaking in China as a social, cultural, and political
phenomenon.  A list of films to be screened will be available on the UTS
China Research Centre website in April 2012 (china.uts.edu.au); films
under consideration include Petition (Zhao Liang, 2009), Apuda (He Yuan,
2010), and When the Bough Breaks (Ji Dan, 2010).

We are now inviting scholars and postgraduate students to participate in
the workshop series to be held on 4-5 June 2012 at UTS.  We are especially
interested in bringing together a dynamic, interdisciplinary group of
participants (from fields such as ­ but not limited to ­ China Studies,
Media Studies, Anthropology, Sociology, Film Studies, and Journalism), and
we welcome academics as well as filmmakers to apply.  All workshop
participants are highly encouraged to attend the film screenings, which
will take place before and after the workshop dates.  Limited travel
funding will be available to support ECRs and postgraduate students
traveling from outside Sydney.  Workshops will be held in English; some
knowledge of Mandarin Chinese is helpful, but not required.

The first workshop, on 4 June 2012, will investigate the current
conditions of independent documentary film production and circulation in
China today, with a focus on the question of activism and aesthetics in
documentary filmmaking.  This workshop will be jointly led by Dr Yi
Sicheng (Yunfest curator), Mr He Yuan (filmmaker), and Dr Luke Robinson
(Lecturer in Film and Media Studies, University of Nottingham).  The
second workshop, on 5 June, will explore documentary as a research method
and will include special screenings of student work from China.  Mr Li Xin
(Lecturer in Media Production, Yunnan Arts Institute) and Dr Jenny Chio
(Postdoctoral Research Fellow, UTS) will lead this workshop.  All
participants will be expected to participate in both workshops, in order
to encourage the greatest possible exchange of ideas and to develop
research collaboration opportunities.

We hope to facilitate intensive conversations on documentary film practice
in the context of contemporary China, cultural studies, and media
production.  To be considered for this workshop series, applicants should
submit by 15 April 2012:

1)	A statement of your current research interests/production projects and
how you will benefit from participation in the workshop series (500-800
words)
2)	Your full contact and affiliation information, including email, phone
number, and mailing address.

Please email your statements and information to Dr Jenny Chio
(Jenny.Chio at uts.edu.au) as a Word or PDF attachment.  Participants will be
notified by 1 May 2012, at which time we will also circulate a few key
background readings in preparation for the workshops.

³Seeing China: The Yunnan Multi Culture Visual Festival² is supported by a
Special Projects Resources grant from the ANU Centre on China in the World
and the UTS China Research Centre.

--
Jenny Chio, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
China Research Centre
University of Technology, Sydney
http://china.uts.edu.au <http://china.uts.edu.au/>
http://sites.google.com/site/jennytchio