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Weekly New Releases - China


Weekly New Releases - China



CHINA UNTAPPED:BICYCLE DREAMS

China has been known as the Bicycle Kingdom for a long time. However, fewer modern Chinese are using bikes as everyday transportation. Instead, for many people, it is strictly used for having fun. Some people are even using bikes to fulfill their dreams.

DVD (English and Chinese, With Chinese Subtitles) / 2013 / 24 minutes

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CHINA UNTAPPED:DREAM LAND

In a small village on Chongming Island, far on the outskirts of Shanghai, most young people want to move to the big city. One man has chosen it as the site of his dream: an organic farm. However, the path to this field of dreams was one fraught with difficulty.

DVD (English and Chinese, With Chinese Subtitles) / 2013 / 24 minutes

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CHINA VISIONARIES

China Visionaries is a documentary produced in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

China's recent history is one of profound changes. From an economy with a closed-door policy, it transformed into an open economy of rapid growth and reform. During this era of change, many overseas leaders have left their footprints on China's history, including Henry Kissinger, Nakasone Yasuhiro, and Juan Antonio Samaranch. The program will be a combination of documentary and feature interview, with each episode focusing on one character. "China Visionaries" will present a fresh look back on China's recent history, uniquely insightful with private and profound views.


8 DVDs / 2013 / 400 minutes

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CHINA'S CHALLENGE

The program invited Dr. Robert Kuhn, author of The Man Who Changed China: The Life and Legacy of Jiang Zemin and The Inside Story of China's 30-Year Reform, to be its host and writer.

China's Challenges is a warts-and-all look at some of the problems that China faces as a result of its economic boom - including rich vs poor, urban vs rural, and other social issues.

Through interviews with high-level officials, experts, scholars, and ordinary people, China's Challenges reflects the changes and progress in the country after China's opening up, especially during the past ten years, examining efforts made by the Government in confronting those challenges.

Where is China's Economy Going?
Are the Chinese People Happy?
China Can Produce. Can China Create?
Are the Chinese People 'Real' Citizens?
What do the Chinese People Believe?


5 DVDs (English and Chinese, With English and Chinese Subtitles) / 2013 / 240 minutes

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MY CHINA DESTINY

Many of the foreigners in China have come in search of opportunities for a new life in cosmopolitan cities like Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. The country's economic achievements, brilliant prospects and the vitality of life, all combine to give them good reasons to stay in China. This is an infotainment-reality program that aims to show the lives of foreign workers who left their homeland to work and settle down in China. They experienced culture shock, but yet to survive in a totally different environment.

6 DVDs / 2013 / 276 minutes

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CHINA CONCERTO

By Bo Wang

An observational essay shot in the southwestern city of Chongqing, CHINA CONCERTO probes the uses of public spectacle in contemporary China.

Born and raised in Chongqing, filmmaker Bo Wang visited his hometown at the height of now-disgraced politician Bo Xilai's campaign to revive Mao-era "red culture", promoting among other things the public singing and dancing of Communist songs.

Alongside these participatory street performances, CHINA CONCERTO looks at images from the media, including Michelangelo Antonioni's Chung Kuo-China, and news media and advertising that address the capitalist present in forms reminiscent of the communist past.

The situation is explored in a narration modeled on Chris Marker's Sans Soleil, which is delivered by a woman with an ambiguous accent. Perched between an insider and outsider perspective, CHINA CONCERTO considers the persistence of totalitarian ideologies and images.

Reviews
  • "The remarkable collage and found footage editing, the insightful commentary on the absurdity of the power construction, and the allure of the spectacle, greatly facilitated by the female voiceover reading out a letter in undefined accented English, have earmarked Bo Wang as an exciting documentary filmmaker approaching sociopolitical subjects in contemporary China." - Ma Ran, Senses of Cinema

  • "Compactly and sensitively offers a Debordian analysis of spectacle and shows the complexity of China's transition into capitalism (as well as a great gunshot montage made from Chinese propaganda films that seems to be inspired by Christian Marclay)." - Tynan Kogane, Cinespect

  • "It is absolutely fascinating to watch CHINA CONCERTO apply the techniques of deconstruction to official state propagandaˇK It also offers trenchant analysis of the capitalism promoted by the state, a mutation described as "collective capitalism," in contrast to the western individualistic variety." - Joe Bendel, Libertas Film Magazine

    DVD (Color) / 2012 / 50 minutes

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    THE BLUE CALICO

    The blue calico has a history of 2000 years. It's a kind of handmade printed fabric popular on China's southeast coast. As time passes, blue calico is gradually fading out in people's daily life. Lu Ruixing spent 10 years to run a private blue calico museum that exhibits his artifacts collected from around the nation. The museum is free to the public over the 10 years. Recently the museum is torn down due to urban planning. How will Mr. Lu continue his blue calico dream?

    DVD (English and Chinese, With Chinese Subtitles) / 2012 / 24 minutes

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    RICH CHINA: AN EMERGING CLASS OF WEALTHY ELITES-SP0015

    In China, optimism is unyielding. Soon-to-be billionaire Zhang Yue has developed a stunning prefab building model that slashes construction time, and he predicts his company will soon be "the biggest in the world." Beijing restaurateur Zhang Lan is similarly ambitious. She has built her Szechuan eatery chain, South Beauty, into a culinary empire employing 10,000 people, and she estimates that by 2020 she'll have 500 restaurants around the globe. And what of 34-year-old Yan Zhihui, co-owner of Jincheng electronics? With a net worth of a few million yuan, he considers himself to have entered "the lower end of China's middle class." This program puts a spotlight on the country's new paradigms of wealth and status, going inside the world of Chinese tycoons to examine the scope of their business plans and their dazzling luxury lifestyles. Yet the economic climate is changing and the good times may not last forever for China's high rollers. Can their momentum continue?

    Note: Only available in the US and Canada.


    DVD / 2012 / 28 minutes

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    TIMBER GANG (AKA LAST LUMBERJACKS) (MU BANG)

    Directed by YU Guangyi

    Yu Guangyi's stunning debut explores a grueling winter amongst loggers in Northeast China as they employ traditional practices through one last, fateful expedition. A lasting testament to disappearing traditions, Last Lumberjacks "is a fascinating glimpse at a rare way of life that few will ever witness" (Ain't It Cool News)

    For generations, the lumberjacks of Heilongjiang, China have made their living harvesting timber amidst a barren, wintry landscape. These woodcutters confront the elements, living in makeshift cabins surrounded by snow and ice. hand tools, sleds and horses are the only technology they employ to drag massive trees down the perilous slopes of Black Bear Valley. At constant risk of injury and death, they attempt to appease the mountain gods with ancient rituals and sacrifices. Despite their heroic efforts to subsist, the deforestation caused by their decades-long customs my lead to their ultimate demise.

    Reviews
  • "Pure, unadorned cinema veriteˇK consistently astonishing." - Robert Koehler, Variety

  • "A privileged peek into some exceedingly harsh lives in a snow-bound corner of the remote Heilongjiang province" - Neil Young, Jigsaw Lounge

  • "Gives the docu-adventurism of Werner Herzog a run for his money." - Ben Cho, Moving Pictures Magazine

    Awards
  • Winner, Jury Prize, Tokyo Filmex
  • Winner, Best Director and Jury Film Prize, Cinema Digital Seoul Film Festival

    DVD (Color, Northeastern Chinese dialect with English subtitles) / 2012 / 90 minutes

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    WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS (WEI CHAO)

    By JI Dan

    On the outskirts of Beijing, two teenage girls from a migrant family struggle to earn the money to pay for their brother's schooling with little help from their troubled and eccentric parents.

    Growing up in a rickety hut on a garbage-filled lot, Xia, Ling, and Gang recognize that a good education is their only possible ticket to a better life. Their older sister, who left school to begin working, has disappeared, likely kidnapped and sold into prostitution.

    As migrants, they are prevented by China's hukou (residence permit) system from attending a free public school, and when the school that had provided them with scholarships closes, they are forced to look for new options. With very little money to their name, they place all their hopes in Gang, the older brother.

    Their complicated home life doesn't make things any easier. Their alcoholic father and their mother are frequently at one another's throats, and do not seem to understand the gravity of their children's situation.

    Director Ji Dan, one of China's preeminent female filmmakers, first met Xia, Ling, and Gang in 2004, while making a film about education in China, This intimate, patient portrait grew out of their close relationship over many years.

    WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS at once explores the particular dynamics of one family and exposes the widespread difficulties faced by migrants living at the margins of Chinese society.

    Reviews
  • "Ji Dan's film features some of the most engrossing storytelling in movies this year, and...some of the richest "characters" in recent memory." - Mubi Notebook

  • "Ji Dan's camera traces the tribulations of the family with an intensity that is unnerving...a shattering viewing experience." - Dan Edwards, Screening China

  • "The film captures their arguments with such intimacy that you wonder if director Ji Dan had worn an invisible cloak while filming." - Kevin B. Lee, RogerEbert.com

    Award
  • Objectif d'or (Grand Prize), Millenium International Documentary Film Festival

    DVD (Color) / 2012 / 144 minutes

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    BEIJING BESIEGED BY WASTE (WEI CHENG LA JI)

    Directed by WANG Jiuliang

    Photographer Wang Jiu-liang travels to more than 500 landfills, fearlessly documenting Beijing's unholy cycle of consumption through poignant observational visits with the scavengers who live and work in the dumps.

    While China's economic ascent commands global attention, less light has been shed upon the monumental problem of waste spawned by a burgeoning population, booming industry, and insatiable urban growth.

    Award-winning photographer Wang Jiuliang focuses his lens upon the grim spectacle of waste, excrement, detritus, and rubble unceremoniously piled upon the land surrounding the China's Olympic city, capital, and megalopolis, Beijing.

    Eking out a dangerous living within are the scavengers, mostly migrant workers from the countryside, who struggle to uphold familial and cultural systems amid their occupation's Dickensian bleakness.

    Wang renders the decimation of once-essential rivers and farmlands in the backdrop of gleaming high-speed trains, stadiums, and skyscrapers; the sinister cyclical pattern of construction's consumption and garbage, and moving images of the daily lives of scavengers who labor at their own risk.

    Reviews
  • "Wang Jiuliang was the first to expose the city's little-known Seventh Ring Zone garbage dumps." - Liu Jingsong, Time

  • "An example of the power of cinematic reportage in China today." - Asian Educational Media Service

  • "Its focus is clear eyed and frank. The shots of people working-and living-in the often-illegal garbage dumps are routinely heartbreaking." - Planning Magazine

    DVD (Color, Mandarin with English Subtitles) / 2011 / 72 minutes

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    MY FATHER'S HOUSE (JIAO TANG)

    Directed by ZHAO Dayong

    The troubled story of an underground church founded by Nigerian missionaries offers a rare glimpse inside an immigrant African community in China.

    In Nigeria, Pastor Daniel Michael Enyeribe has a revelation to bring the word of God to China. He joins a booming community of African merchants who have settled in the southern city of Guangzhou and established the Royal Victory Church for both Africans and Chinese to worship. The church functions as the spiritual center for the ever-growing African trader community, who struggle with cultural, personal and financial challenges. After being raided by police enforcing strict laws regulating religious practice, Pastor Daniel flees to Hong Kong, where he uses video conferencing to lead his congregation from afar. His colleague Pastor Ignatius assumes daily management of the church, while struggling to support his Chinese wife and their young child.

    With My Father's House, documentary filmmakers Zhao Dayong (Ghost Town, New York Film Festival) and David Bandurski capture a complex subculture thriving within a seemingly homogeneous society where immigrants and evangelical religion are kept from view.


    DVD (Color) / 2011 / 77 minutes

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    WAKING THE GREEN TIGER

    By Gary Marcuse and Betsy Carson

    Waking the Green Tiger tells the dramatic story of the rise of the first major grassroots environmental movement in China, a significant development that could reshape the country. Seen through the eyes of farmers, journalists, activists and a former government insider, the film traces the historical evolution of the movement and highlights an extraordinary campaign to stop a huge dam project slated for the Upper Yangtze River in southern China.

    Featuring archival footage never seen outside China, and interviews with insiders and witnesses, the documentary also portrays the earlier history of Chairman Mao's campaigns to conquer nature in the name of progress. Mao mobilized millions of people in campaigns that reshaped China's landscape, destroyed lakes, forests and grasslands, and unleashed dust storms. Despite the evident consequences, critics of this approach were silenced for decades.

    The green movement emerged when a new environmental impact law was passed in 2004. For the first time in China's history, ordinary citizens gained the right to speak out and take part in government decisions. Green activism grew into a larger movement as local villagers and urban activists joined forces to oppose a massive new dam at Tiger Leaping Gorge on the Upper Yangtze that would have displaced 100,000 people. Their extraordinary campaign is a primary focus of the film.

    Reviews
  • "Gary Marcuse's stirring documentary celebrates the brave souls at the forefront of China's new revolution." - Vancouver International Film Festival

  • "StirringˇK this engaging documentary shakes up a lot of assumptions we may have about China and opens our eyes to a revolution that brings on public debate." - Toronto Star

  • "Waking the Green Tiger is wonderful, an amazing story that opens an unexpected window onto China." - Ronald Wright, author, A Short History of Progress

    Awards
  • Best Canadian Documentary, Planet in Focus Film Festival, Toronto
  • Winner, Top 10 Canadian Films, Vancouver International Film Festival

    DVD (English and Mandarin, Closed Captioned, With English Subtitles) / 2011 / (Grades 9 - Adult) / 78 minutes

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    BREAKING THE WALL OF EFFICIENT INNOVATION: WHAT CAN BE LEARNED FROM CHINA'S PLANNED CAPITALISM

    China's economic prowess is seldom questioned, but how has the largest communist society in the world also become the most dynamic capitalist economy? In this video lecture from the 2010 Falling Walls Conference, sociologist Doug Guthrie disentangles the generally accepted assumption that markets are more efficient than state planning and provides a unique view on economic innovation. With ample academic research and experiences in East Asia, Guthrie's doctoral study on Chinese corporate response to institutional changes was awarded the field's top dissertation award and has formed the basis of several books of economic reform in China. After teaching at top international institutions like Harvard Business School, INSEAD, Stanford University, Columbia University, and Emory University, Guthrie was appointed the dean of George Washington University's School of Business, where he is committed to guiding the business community through the challenges presented by the new communist-capitalist economic landscape.

    DVD / 2010 / 15 minutes

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    CHINA QUAKE

    China Quake is an engrossing look at the massive 2008 earthquake in China, one of the most destructive quakes ever recorded, and a lesson in the science of seismic activity.

    The 7.9 magnitude earthquake released a surge of energy that devastated an area the size of South Korea. In ninety unforgiving seconds, nearly 90,000 lives were lost, 5 million buildings were destroyed and 5 million people were left homeless. Dramatic video footage from the day of the quake and its aftermath, along with computer graphics, vividly illustrate the devastation and the mechanisms behind the megaquake.

    China Quake follows a team of international scientists a year after the monster quake as they search for clues that will help solve the mystery of the massive, unexpected disaster. Was the Sichuan earthquake a freak of nature or a predictable tragedy waiting to happen? And what can be learned from the quake to help reduce the devastation in the future?

    The scientists, including geologists, seismologists and engineers, use tools on the ground and in space to uncover the catastrophic chain of events that may have ruptured several faults at once. Among the scientists is Dr. Elizabeth Hausler, founder/CEO of Build Change, a nonprofit organization that teaches people in developing countries how to build earthquake resistant homes.

    The discoveries of these scientists solves the mystery of the quake's origins and scale, and will help save lives in the future wherever and whenever killer quakes strike around the world.

    Award
  • Golden China Dragon Award, International Science and Education Producers Conference, China

    DVD (Closed Captioned) / 2010 / (Grades 9-Adult) / 47 minutes

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    FORTUNE TELLER (SUAN MING)

    Directed by XU Tong

    The colorful life of a countryside fortune teller provides a candid and deeply revelatory look at people living on the fringes of Chinese society.

    Li Baicheng is a charismatic fortune teller who services a clientele of prostitutes and shadowy figures whose jobs, like his, are commonplace but technically illegal in China. He practices his ancient craft in a village near Beijing while taking care of his deaf and dumb wife Pearl, who he rescued from her family's mistreatment. Winter brings a police crackdown on both fortune tellers and prostitutes, forcing Li and Pearl into temporary exile, during which they visit their hometowns and confront old family demons. Li's humble story is punctuated with chapter headings reminiscent of Qing Dynasty popular fiction.

    In Fortune Teller, Xu Tong continues his work documenting China's underclass, whose lives have gone largely unnoticed during the country's boom years. Xu spent a year filming nearly every detail of Li's daily existence and the ancient spiritual practices he administers.

    Reviews"An exhaustive case history on the marginalization of the poor and disabled under Chinese capitalism" - Ronnie Scheib, Variety

  • "A complete immersion into their deceptively simple world in the countryside of northern China." - Ada Tseng, Asia Pacific Arts

    Awards
  • Bright Future, Rotterdam International Film Festival
  • NETPAC Award for the Best Feature-length Film, Chongqing Independent Film Festival
  • Jury Prize, China Documentary Film Festival
  • Second Prize Feature Film, Hong Kong Chinese Documentary Festival
  • Dragons and Tigers Selection, Vancouver International Film Festival
  • China Independent Film Festival-Annual Top Ten Documentary Showcase

    DVD (Color, Mandarin with English subtitles) / 2010 / 129 minutes

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    KARAMAY

    Directed by XU Xin

    In 1994, the oil-rich city of Karamay in Northwest China was the site of a horrible fire that killed nearly 300 schoolchildren. The students were performing for state officials and were told to stand by while the officials exited first. After the fire, the story was heavily censored in the Chinese state media. To this day, the families of Karamay have not been allowed to publicly mourn their children.

    In KARAMAY, filmmaker Xu Xin helps a community break the silence nearly two decades after their tragedy. The film is structured around a series of first-person accounts from families, teachers and survivors, interspersed with rare archival footage. Each narrative represents a complete and self-contained story in which the subjects recount their reaction to the carnage and how it colored their view of nation, society, education, law, party institutions and human nature. The result is "a landmark in journalistic diligence and a dedicated act of commemoration and healing" (Michael Fox, SF Weekly).

    Review
  • "Any future book on documentary film history will have to mark a place of honor for Xu Xin's KARAMAY." - Robert Koehler, Variety

    Awards
  • Locarno Film Festival - Winner, Young Jury Prize
  • Asia Pacific Screen Awards - Best Documentary Nominated 2010

    DVD (Black & White, Mandarin with English subtitles) / 2010 / 356 minutes

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    ON THE BRINK: PRESERVING ENDANGERED SPECIES - PANDA NURSERY

    There's currently an estimated one thousand giant pandas left in China, and unless crucial steps are taken, the iconic bears could soon be wiped out forever. At China's Wolong Nature Reserve in the mountains in Sichuan Province, forty giant pandas and a dedicated team of staff play a crucial role in ensuring the survival of the species.

    As part of the Reserve's panda breeding program, a revolutionary new method of rearing twin cubs called 'swap-raising' has been developed. Each cub is raised by both its natural mother and one of the Reserve's veterinarians, Wei Rongping, to increase the chances of both cubs surviving.

    Panda Nursery witnesses this special partnership between Rongping and an eleven-year-old female panda called Ershihao, who, three months after being artificially inseminated, gives birth to two tiny furless cubs. The program follows the first six months of the lives of the twin cubs as they are swapped between Ershihao and their surrogate 'mum', Rongping.

    Panda Nursery follows the highs and lows of Lin He's and Lin Hai's eventful first six months and explores the challenges facing giant pandas in the wild. In three years it could be these two cuddly cubs' turn to produce young of their own as Wolong Nature Reserve's breeding program attempts to haul the giant bears back from the brink of extinction.


    DVD (Closed Captioned) / 2010 / (Grades 6-Adult) / 50 minutes

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    ON THE BRINK: PRESERVING ENDANGERED SPECIES - WILD HORSES - RETURN TO CHINA

    Relentless poaching early last century saw the oldest horse species in the world die out in their original habitat. But thanks to a breeding program in China, 27 Przewalski's horses have returned to their homeland where their ancestors roamed - the vast 18,000 square kilometer Kala Maili prairie in West China.

    Accustomed to an easy life within the enclosures, back in the wild and hostile northern region, the herd faces extreme winter snows and summer droughts. Wild Horses - Return to China is the story of the herd's struggle for survival during their first year back in the wild.

    Ten-year-old stallion Wind Chaser leads the herd of 9 mares, 11 colts and 6 foals on their first journey into this new and unfamiliar world. With him is the mare Black Pearl, who is carrying his foal. Her fate, and that of the foal, depends on if Wind Chaser can keep leadership of the herd through the first brutal months of independence as younger stallions begin to challenge the older horse.

    The herd is released, but they are reluctant to travel far from their enclosure and always return at the end of the day. When winter arrives the temperature drops to minus 38 degrees and snow covers the sparse pasture - survival is their ultimate test.

    Set in the stunningly beautiful and stark landscape of west China, the film reveals the secret life of these wild horses, how they adjust to the harsh wilderness and reclaim the long lost territories of their ancestors. The main members of the herd became in integral characters in the story as the life and death struggles of Wind Chaser, Flame and, most poignantly, Black Pearl are both heartbreaking and uplifting in this extraordinary drama of nature.


    DVD (Closed Captioned) / 2010 / (Grades 6-Adult) / 50 minutes

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    TAPE (JIAO DAI)

    Directed by LI Ning

    For five grueling years, Li Ning documents his struggle to achieve success as an avant-garde artist while contending with the pressures of modern life in China. He is caught between two families: his wife, son and mother, whom he can barely support; and his enthusiastic but disorganized guerilla dance troupe. Li's chaotic life becomes inseparable from the act of taping it, as if his experiences can only make sense on screen.

    Tape shatters documentary conventions, utilizing a variety of approaches, including guerilla documentary, experimental street video, even CGI. Tape captures a decade's worth of artistic aspirations and failures, while breaking new ground in individual expression in China.

    Reviews
  • "A riveting portrait of an artist's attempts at expression and conflicts with societal norms." - Museum of Modern Art

  • "Li succeeds in revealing his own soul" - Rotterdam International Film Festival

    Award
  • WINNER, Silver Digital Award, YunFest Documentary Festival

    DVD (Color, Mandarin with English subtitles) / 2010 / 168 minutes

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    CHINA'S DIPLOMACY - AN OVERVIEW

    The episode presents an overview of major developments in China ' s foreign policies.

    The episode examines major developments in China's foreign relations in the 60 years since its founding: one-sided support for the Soviet Union; participating in the Geneva Conference and the international community; proposing the Five Principles for Peaceful Co-existence at the Bandung Conference; export of revolution to countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America; keeping a low profile after the June Fourth Incident; and developing partnership diplomacy with great powers and neighbours.


    DVD / 2009 / 30 minutes

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    BEIJING - MOSCOW (CHINA AND THE SOVIET UNION)

    Sino-Soviet relations have been a roller coaster ride since New China's founding: from alliance in the 1950s, split in the 1960s, hostility in the 1970s, reconciliation in the 1980s to the Soviet Union's dissolution and China's emergence as a new global power in the 1990s. How have changes in Sino-Soviet relations influenced the development of the international community?

    DVD / 2009 / 30 minutes

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    COMRADES AND BROTHERS (CHINA AND VIETNAM)

    While China and Vietnam borders each other, their fates are intricately connected. Yet over the past 60 years, the two socialist powers have gone through good and bad times in their relations. This episode tells the ups and downs of Sino-Vietnamese relations, from a bond stronger than brotherhood, to a dramatic fallout and then hearty reconciliation.

    DVD / 2009 / 30 minutes

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    FRIENDSHIP CEMENTED BY BLOOD (CHINA AND NORTH KOREA)

    The Korean Peninsula, located in Northeast Asia, is China's gateway in the northeast, one of immense strategic importance.

    In June 1950, the Korean War broke out. New China, despite the urgent need for domestic reconstruction, entered the war with great determination, for its own national security and also to support communist North Korea. China paid a huge price for the war but had North Korea's friendship in exchange. It was a friendship cemented by blood.

    In the late 1970s, China implemented its reform and opening-up policy and began to drift away from North Korea ideologically. Then the building of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea in 1992 further damaged Sino-North Korean relations.

    Today, as the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula intensifies, all eyes are on the peninsula, as well as China - whether its influence on North Korea will prevail.


    DVD / 2009 / 30 minutes

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    DISTANT RELATIVES, CLOSE NEIGHBOURS (CHINA AND INDONESIA)

    China and Indonesia are only a sea apart, and Indonesia has the largest overseas Chinese population in the world, bringing the two countries even closer.

    Indonesia built diplomatic relations with the PRC in 1950, and was among the first countries to recognise China's new political regime. In the mid 1950s, with Indonesia ' s help, China was able to attend the Bandung Conference and opened the door to foreign relations with Asian and African countries. Yet in the 1960s, as a new president took office in Indonesia, the country launched a series of anti-communism and anti-Chinese campaigns, which eventually resulted in the breaking up of diplomatic relations.

    Sino-Indonesian relations were built in 1950s, severed in 1967 and re-established in the 1990s. In 60 years, the two countries have gone through a great deal to peaceful coexistence today.


    DVD / 2009 / 30 minutes

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    A LONG JOURNEY OF LOVE AND HATE (CHINA AND JAPAN)

    Although Sino-Japanese diplomatic relationship was only re-established in 1972 after Japanese Prime Minister Tanaka Kakuei's China visit, non-government contacts were frequent prior to normalization. Premier Zhou Enlai admonished the Japanese that 'past experience, if not forgotten, is a guide for the future'. But Japan has never admitted to its invasion of China and the atrocities it had committed there. 1970-80 were Sino-Japanese relationship's honeymoon years. Japan's Official Development Assistance helped China build up its infrastructure. Reviews the ebb and flow in diplomatic relationships in ensuing years. Observes that Sino-Japanese relationship will remain like this in the future.

    DVD / 2009 / 30 minutes

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    WHEN THE DRAGON DANCES WITH THE ELEPHANT (CHINA AND INDIA)

    Neighbouring countries China and India are both ancient Asian civilisations with vast territory and a large population. In 1962 the two countries went to war as a result of border conflicts, and in recent years India granting asylum to the Dalai Lama as well as the issue of Tibetan refugees have created tension in Sino-Indian relations. Yet Sino-Indian economic and trade relations have developed in spite of political disparities. India's advantage in software, combined with China's sufficiently developed infrastructure and hardware, is set to create mutual benefits for the two countries. As emerging BRIC countries, China and India have caused significant concern in western countries. While the two countries compete for power and influence in the international community, they are strategic partners in business and commerce. China and India, enemies and friends all at once, give their best performance on the stage of the world.

    DVD / 2009 / 30 minutes

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    A NEW LEAF (CHINA AND KAZAKHSTAN)

    In the 1990s, global politics underwent a major reshuffle. As the Soviet Union dissolved and its 15 republics declared independence, China saw the addition of five emerging Central Asian countries along its borders. A new balance has to be found in international politics, and China is forming new relationships with its five new neighbours though new diplomatic thinking and strategies. Kazakhstan declared independence from the Soviet Union in December 1991 and China was among the first countries to recognise its independence. Kazakhstan is the world's largest landlocked country.

    With rich natural resources, it borders Xinjiang and has become China's new partner in energy diplomacy. Kazakhstan is the most powerful country among the five countries of Central Asia. Located at the heart of Eurasia, Central Asia has become a major battlefield for the global competition for resources. In May 2004, China and Kazakhstan inked an agreement to build the China-Kazakhstan oil pipeline. This is China's first land pipeline for crude oil import; it reduces the country's reliance on its marine pipeline and hence the risks of importing oil from the Middle East and Africa.

    Besides cooperating on energy projects, China and Kazakhstan are also partners in anti-terror efforts. In June 2001, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Russia founded the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, an anti-terror initiative to fight the forces of terrorism, separatism and extremism. 60 years after its founding, New China is directing its diplomatic efforts towards a brand new way of thinking.


    DVD / 2009 / 30 minutes

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