Jessie W. 2023 | BASIS Independent Silicon Valley
- Project Title: Response to Tragedies as portrayed in Contemporary Chinese Films
- BASIS Independent Advisor: Manisha Banga
- Internship Location: Cinequest
- Onsite Mentor: Matt Parent
With my internship at Cinequest, I observed that there has been a significant withdrawal of Chinese films from large film festivals, with most submissions consisting of small independent films. The increasing censorship guidelines in China due to the political climate prevent filmmakers from producing desired narratives. Using written sources and a selection of films from the past three years including 1921, a film commemorating the establishment of the Chinese communist party, I will analyze how China propagandizes films specifically through emotional interactions to spread its desired narratives. Through this analysis, I aim to identify the process by which they alter media to eliminate conflicting narratives.
My Posts
Week 8 – More Movies
April 29, 2023
This week for my senior project, I watched the film Foolish Bird, through someone else’s dropbox, though moments after I finished it I realized it was actually available for purchase on Youtube. The movie was directed by Huang Ji and her husband Ryûji Otsuka. I had intended to watch the film Stonewalling, their most recent […]
Read More
Week 6 – No Room For Empathy
April 25, 2023
In the movies mentioned previously, whether it is ones which have been used as a sort of propaganda or those which have been banned, there have been scenes filled with emotions. In many of the scenes in government backed films, the emotional scenes are able to provide a sense of togetherness to the audience. In […]
Read More
Week 5
April 7, 2023
This week for my senior project, I will be talking about the wandering earth sequel and its relation to state propaganda. The movie follows The Wandering Earth (2019) though it is actually a prequel to that movie. It follows the main characters through a timeline: 2044, 2058, 2065…, and displays the world’s, more specifically China’s […]
Read More
Week 4 – Sources
April 1, 2023
Hi everyone in this blog post I will be talking about the paper “Theatricality and Cultural critique in Chinese Cinema” and the narrative it establishes, as a part of my final paper. In this paper, the author talks about the ability of film to be cultural critique in Chinese cinema. Hui introduces the evolution […]
Read More