Chinese Film in the Twenty-First Century - Movements, Genres, Intermedia

This book examines Chinese film in the twenty-first century. Organised around the themes ‘movements’, ‘genres’, and ‘intermedia’, it reflects on how Chinese cinema has changed, adapted, and evolved over past decades, and prognosticates as to its future trajectories. It considers how established film genres in China have adapted and transformed themselves, and discusses current shifts in documentary filmmaking, the ethos and practices of ‘grassroots intellectual’ independent filmmakers, and the adaption of foreign film genres to serve the ideological and political needs of the present. It also explores how film is drawing upon the socio-historical and political contexts of the past to create new cinematic discourses, and the ways film is providing a voice to previously marginalised ethnic groups. In addition, the book analyses the influences of past aesthetic traditions on the creative and artistic expressions of twenty-first century films, and cinema’s relation to other media forms, including folktales, moving image installations, architecture and painting. Throughout, the book assesses how Chinese films have been conceptualised, examined, and communicated domestically and abroad, and emphasises the importance of new directions in Chinese film, thus highlighting the plurality, vitality, and hybridity of Chinese cinema in the twenty-first century.