Home and a Distant Archive

21-22 China

Exploring the Anthropocene era characterized by human impact on the planet, this is an enlightening VR film that examines an emerging superpower undergoing mass urbanization, industrial development, and topographical changes.

Chinesische Städte

The short documentary presents the difference between North and South China and also presents footage from several Chinese cities.

Unbekanntes China

Aerial photographs and cityscapes by aviation pioneer Wulf-Dieter Graf zu Castell, who lived in China between 1933 and 1936 and was tasked with setting up an air traffic network for Eurasia.

Kaiserbauten in Fernost

Documentation of a journey along the Great Wall of China to the Ku-Pei-Kuo pass fortress.

Inside Red China

October 1st, 1957. Dusk descends on Tiananmen Square, Peking. Fireworks crackle light across the night sky, above a city alive with National Day festivities and celebrations. Two intrepid New Zealand film-makers - Rudall and Ramai Te Miha Hayward - are there, documenting the life and times of communist China. The distinction of being the first English speaking foreigners to film unfettered in communist China was significant. The invitation to visit China was facilitated through the New Zealand China Friendship Society. They filmed in Canton, Shanghai, Peking (Beijing) and Wuhan. It was a small window of opportunity for Westerners to gaze on a country that was largely a mystery to the outside world since 1949. The unfortunate irony was that two of the documentaries; “Wonders of China”, and “Inside Red China”, were considered to be communist propaganda, and were not distributed outside of New Zealand.

West Estate

West Estate spotlights the severe housing problems in Hong Kong, taking the spirit of resistance outside of the protest. The damaged walls in the cage-like tenements reflect the many forms of social injustice as well as Hongkongers’ widespread sense of rootlessness. Connecting three stories from different households like puzzle pieces, the film depicts people’s despair over issues of family, sexuality, love, and freedom.

Trial and Error

This Anti-ELAB (Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill) Movement documentary short takes us back to the airport occupation on 12 August 2019. Although this new form of protest soon turned into a crisis, it became an important lesson for the protesters. Compared to the tension inside the airport terminal, the long walk home at sunset on the Lantau highway, which connects the Hong Kong International Airport to the residential areas, felt like a reminiscence of a school field trip.

24th Street

Su has set up a restaurant without a permit. Unsurprisingly, the authorities send him away. Su then decides to go back home to the countryside, where his wife and children still live. He isn't exactly welcomed back with open arms.

How Lucky China

Follows Long Island’s Mary Lamont Band on their groundbreaking 23,000-mile tour in six cities and provinces across mainland China in 2002.

Beijing Spring

The documentary film of the brief window of artistic freedom and democracy movement 1978 - 1982 following China's brutal cultural revolution.

Prayers to the Gods of Guerrilla Filmmaking

A crew of filmmakers shoot undercover on the streets of Hong Kong with hidden microphones and no permits. The city becomes a giant set as mounting tension and ego clashes push tempers to breaking point.

In Want of a Mask

The COVID-19 exploded in China in early 2020. Thousands of people from the mainland rushed to Hong Kong that made the people panic. The supply of the face masks cannot meet the demand. Some non-governmental organizations distributed face masks to the elderly in early February that attracted lots of people to queue up.

Happy Together

The Disappearing Camel Caravan

People call those who haul camels to and from desert areas and take camel transportation as their profession camel caravans. However, with the development of modern transportation, the camel's transportation function in the desert has gradually disappeared, and the camel caravans have faded out of the historical stage. The documentary tells the story of the last generation of camel caravans in Minqin County, Gansu Province.

Draussen bleiben

Waiting for the Sun

In China more people are on death row than the rest of the world combined. The children of the convicts are often left alone, stigmatized and living in the streets. Grandma Zhang, as the kids call her, is a former prison guard who has founded an orphanage in Nanzhao.

Mao Tse Tung: China's Peasant Emperor

Visions Cinema: Film as a Way of Life: Hong Kong Cinema - A Report by Tony Rayns

Examines the early 1980s Hong Kong filmmaking community. Tony Rayns interviews some of the new generation of filmmakers and figures from the wider film culture.

Crane City of the North

Documentary about the history and development of Qiqihar city.

Kwai Shing West Estate

A homage to the social housing architecture that is so atypical of Hong Kong - especially the Kwai Shing West Estate. About half of the population lives in such building complexes, where one experiences a strong sense of loneliness. The neighborhoods are the scene of modern living conditions, but also of social protests, which have been punishable by life imprisonment in Hong Kong since 2020 due to a new law.