This groundbreaking book presents a critical introduction to the cultural and political dimensions of contemporary Chinese cinema. Exploring the complex and shifting world of Chinese underground and independent film, leading Western and Chinese scholars trace the changing dynamics of Chinese film culture since the early 1990s as it moves away from underground and toward independence in the new century. With its fresh and knowledgeable analysis of Chinese underground and independent filmmaking, this book will be essential reading for all those interested in a society caught between socialism and global currents.

Edited by Paul G. Pickowicz and Yingjin Zhang

Chapter 1: Social and Political Dynamics of Underground Filmmaking in China
Chapter 2: My Camera Doesn't Lie? Truth, Subjectivity, and Audience in Chinese Independent Film and Video
Chapter 3: A Scene beyond Our Line of Sight: Wu Wenguang and New Documentary Cinema's Politics of Independence
Chapter 4: "Every Man a Star": The Ambivalent Cult of Amateur Art in New Chinese Documentaries
Chapter 5: Independently Chinese: Duan Jinchuan, Jiang Yue, and Chinese Documentary
Chapter 6: Trapped Freedom and Localized Globalism
Chapter 7: Chinese Underground Films: Critical Views from China
Chapter 8: Film Clubs in Beijing: The Cultural Consumption of Chinese Independent Films