China
Plastic China: Recycling's Downside, RealTime, 18 July 2017
Wang Jiuliang's new documentary Plastic China explores the social and environmental impact of China's acceptance of much of the the world's waste.
"Border Crossings," Sydney Review of Books, 30 May 2017
An essay that uses the new memoir, Once Upon a Time in the East, as a springboard for surveying the career of Chinese novelist and filmmaker Guo Xiaolu (author of I Am China).
“A Space to Dream,” Sydney Review of Books, 5 December 2016
An essay reflecting on historical narratives in two new books about China – the novel by Canadian author Madeleine Thien, Do Not Say We Have Nothing, and a non-fiction account of Chinese contemporary art in the post-Mao era by Australian journalist Madeleine O'Dea, The Phoenix Years.
“Spinning Webs of Remembrance,” Fireflies 3 (March 2016, print only).
An essay on Jia Zhangke's documentary about Shanghai, I Wish I Knew. The print only publication can be ordered online, or from bookshops. Click here for a list of outlets or to order online.
300 million clicks: Under the Dome and the Chinese Documentary Context, Senses of Cinema 76 (September 2015)
A peer-reviewed article that considers the documentary context from which the online film Under the Dome (Qiongding zhixia, 2015) emerged. This film on China's chronic air pollution, by investigative journalist Chai Jing, went viral when it was released online in early 2015, attracting over 300 million clicks before it was systematically removed from sites inside China's Great Firewall. This article argues that, in addition to foreign influences such as An Inconvenient Truth, Chai's film draws on a long history of expository documentary work in China, as well as a more recent lineage of activist documentaries built around the personalised, embodied voice of the filmmaker.
Framing the Heavy Weight of History: Yellow Earth, Senses of Cinema 74, May 2015
A short critical appreciation of Chen Kaige's seminal film Yellow Earth, a work often credited with launching China's Fifth Generation. Part of Senses of Cinema's "Cinematheque Annotations on Film" in conjunction with the Melbourne Cinematheque.
On Class and Development, RealTime 126, April-May 2015
A review of JP Sniadecki’s intimate and experimental The Iron Ministry, a documentary about life on China’s vast, crowded rail network.
The Art of Dissent, panel as part of the "China Up Close Program" at Australian Centre for the Moving Image, 13 February 2015
In February 2015, Dan appeared on a panel following a screening of Alison Klayman's documentary "Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry" at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, as part of the centre's China Up Close program. Apart from Dan Edwards, the artist/curator Tammy Wong, Gallery 4A Director Aaron Seeto, and artist Scot Rankin also appeared on the panel.
Looking At/ Looking in Antonioni's Chung kuo, Cina: A Critical Reflection Across Three Viewings, Senses of Cinema 74, March 2015
This article traces my response to Antonioni's 1972 documentary Chung Kuo, Cina across three viewings: before I ever visited China, while living in Beijing, and at the time of writing. I consider not only my own varying relationship to the film, but also some of the different responses the film has provoked since its release, both in China and the West.
An Eye on China for Three Decades, RealTime 124, Dec-Jan 2014
A critical overview of a series of documentaries on Hong Kong and China made between the 1980s and the present, by Australian documentarian Nick Torrens. Torrens' most recent work is China's 3 Dreams, which debuted at the 2014 Sydney Film Festival.
Unexpectedly and Violently Absurd, RealTime, 117, Oct-Nov 2013
A review of the new feature film A Touch of Sin, by Chinese director Jia Zhangke, which played recently at the Melbourne International Film Festival. The article also contains excerpts from an interview with the director.
Art, Activism and Ai Weiwei, RealTime, 112, Dec-Jan 2012
A review of the acclaimed new Alison Klayman documentary about Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, entitled Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry.
The Stories behind Your neighbour's Front Door, Kill Your Darlings (blog), 5 December 2012
A reflection on the myriad, and rarely heard, tales of suffering that can be heard among the community of Australians who have immigrated here from other nations.
Chinese filmmakers risk it all to defy government censorship, Crikey, 6 September 2012
Chinese documentary maker Hu Jie was recently prevented from leaving China to travel to a Nepalese festival. Meanwhile feature film director Ying Liang has the opposite problem - he's been threatened with arrest if he sets foot back in mainland China. A look at some of the pressures facing China's independent film sector at present.
DIY filmmakers offer rare, raw face of China, The Age, 3 August 2012
An overview of the Street Level Visions: Chinese Independent Docos program curated by Dan Edwards for the 2012 Melbourne International Film Festival. Also features a short video interview with Edwards.
“If They Won’t Make It, I Can”: An Interview with Documentarian, Hu Jie, ArtSpace China, 1 August 2012
An interview with Hu Jie, one of China's most controversial independent documentary makers. Hu directed Searching for Lin Zhao's Soul and Though I Am Gone, two films looking at suppressed incidents from the Maoist era.
"Every Official Knows What the Problems Are:" An Interview with Chinese Documentarian Zhao Liang, Senses of Cinema, 15 July 2012
An interview with one of China's most acclaimed documentary makers, Zhao Liang, whose films Petition and Crime and Punishment will screen at the 2012 Melbourne International Film Festival as part of the "Street Level Visions: Chinese Independent Docos" program curated by Dan Edwards.
Street Level Visions: China's Digital Documentary Movement, Senses of Cinema, 7 July 2012
An overview of the China's burgeoning independent documentary scene and the selection of films comprising "Street Level Visions," a program of Chinese documentaries curated by Dan Edwards for this year's Melbourne International Film Festival.
RealTime Traveller: Beijing, People's Republic of China, RealTime e-edition, 3 July, 2012
Dan Edwards takes visitors on a whirlwind tour of the cultural delights of China's capital as part of RealTime's new cultural travel series.
Tuning in to a Red Light Revolution, The Age, 26 April 2012
Profile of the Australian, Beijing-based filmmaker Sam Voutas, director of China's first "sex shop comedy" Red Light Revolution.
Meet China's Other Dissidents, New Matilda, 28 July 2011
Ai Weiwei has resurfaced, but many activists, including activist Wang Lihong, remain in detention in China with little in the way of legal recourse.
You Can't Build on an Emptiness, RealTime 103, June-July 2011
In China's southern Jiangxi province, filmmaker Jian Yi and his wife Eva have set up IFChina Original Studio, a brave experiment in Chinese civil society that train young people in film, photography, theatre, and oral history. Dan visited the studio earlier this year and spoke to Jian Yi about his pioneering work.
China's Divided Screen Culture, RealTime 103, June-July 2011
A look at some of the Chinese films screened at the 2011 Hong Kong International Film Festival: The Ditch by Wang Bing, Bachelor Mountain by Yu Guangyi, and the omnibus film Yulu produced by Jia Zhangke.
China: Creative Expression on Notice, RealTime (e-edition), May 10, 2011
A rundown of how the current wave of repression in China is impacting on the nation's creative communities.
No One Fooled by PM's Human Rights Bluster, New Matilda, 29 April, 2011
An examination of the PM's rhetoric regarding human rights in China and Korea during her recent visit to East Asia.
China Ramps Up the Pressure, New Matilda, 8 April 2011
A survey of of the wave of repression unleashed by the Chinese Government in the wake of online calls for a "Jasmine Revolution" in China, including the arrest of the country's best known contemporary artist, Ai Weiwei.
CinemaTalk: A Conversation with Ou Ning, dgenerate Films blog, March 1 2011
Interview with the Chinese artist, writer, curator and documentary filmmaker Ou Ning, director of the acclaimed Sun Yuan Li and Meishi St.
Who's Using Who? Zhou Hao's Hall of Mirrors, dgenerate Films blog, Feb 22 2011
An essay on Using and The Transition Period, and pair of documentaries by one of China's most sharp-eyed documentary makers, Zhou Hao.
Why China is Not the Next Egypt, New Matilda, 21 Feb 2011
An eye-witness account of what happened after calls were posted online for "Jasmine Revolution" rallies in Beijing emulating the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.
Fear, Loathing and HIV, The Beijinger, January 2011
An article on Zhao Liang's documentary Together, which looks at the plight of HIV suffers in China - reproduced here on the Screening China blog.
The Vicious Circle of Justice: Zhao Liang’s Crime and Punishment, degenerate Films blog, November 4, 2010
A review of Crime and Punishment, a film by the Chinese documentary filmmaker Zhao Liang, looking at life inside a Chinese police station in the country's far northeast.
Shanghai: Fractured Memories, Contested Histories, RealTime, 99, Oct-Nov 2010
A review of the new documentary I Wish I Knew by Chinese director Jia Zhangke, which delves into Shanghai's fractures historical consciousness.
China’s Blockbuster Propaganda, The Diplomat, September 9, 2010
A discussion of China's recent state-sponsored blockbusters Aftershock and The Founding of a Republic, and the protectionist measures in place to make sure these films achieve maximum exposure in China.
From the Dark Side of Economic Success, RealTime 97, June-July 2010
Reviews of two Chinese documentaries screened at the Hong Kong International Film Festival: Petition, Zhao Liang's disturbing look at the brutality, violence and intimidation surrounding those seeking justice in contemporary China; and Once Upon a Time Proletarian, Gu Xiaolu's series of snapshots of life in China's interior.
Meet Mr Preservation: He Shuzhong on Saving China’s Cultural Heritage from theBeijinger.com, May 21 2010
From criticizing Shanghai museum staff as an intern, to leading the charge against the planned wholesale demolition of Beijing’s Gulou area, He Shuzhong has never been afraid of causing a stir. He founded the Beijing Cultural Heritage Protection Center (CHP) as an NGO early this decade, and since then the CHP has grown into a national organization with thousands of members, working to empower communities across China.
Alternative Realities - China's Digital Documentary Generation, RealTime 96, April-May 2010
While China's political system remains deeply authoritarian, the country's overwhelming size and explosive growth have opened cavernous gaps in the government's control of culture, through which a new generation of DV-wielding documentary filmmakers have climbed with relish. Dan Edwards looks at some of China's key independent documentary makers.
A Film Master on the Big Screen: Xie Jin Retrospective at MOMA BC, theBeijinger.com, 4 March, 2010
Beijing’s one and only arthouse cinema, MOMA Broadway Cinematheque, is proving a godsend for film fans who love the big-screen experience, but want something more challenging than multiplex spectacles. Recently MOMA BC kick off their first “Great Masters Retrospective” with a season of eight works by Xie Jin, the exemplary representative of China’s “third generation” of filmmakers. Although not well known in the English-speaking film world, here in China Xie Jin is revered as one of the nation’s great directors.
Family Life One Moment at a Time: Liu Jiayin on Oxhide, theBeijinger.com, 24 February, 2010
Oxhide by Liu Jiayin is one of the most acclaimed and innovative slices of recent independent Chinese cinema. Beijing audiences recently had the chance to see Liu’s film, and its sequel Oxhide II, on the big screen at the famous 798 art zone. Dan Edwards spoke to Liu on the eve of the screenings.
The Fine Art of Diplomacy , New Matilda, 12 January 2010
The lack of Australian cultural diplomacy in China has ramifications which reach far beyond the cultural sector, writes Dan Edwards from Beijing.
Where the Truth Lies, RealTime 94, Dec-Jan 2009
Jia Zhangke's most recent feature, the documentary-drama hybrid 24 City, considers China’s dramatic economic transformation through the story of factory 420—once a state-owned industrial showpiece now being knocked down to make way for luxury apartments. His 19-minute short drama Cry Me a River is a more conventional portrayal of the disillusionment and ennui of middle age, but with a particularly Chinese historical inflection.
Merely Floating in the World, RealTime 94, Dec-Jan 2009
A look at Zhao Dayong's extraordinary documentary Ghost Town, about a forsaken town on the Chinese-Burmese border. Includes interview comments with the director.
Harmony Imposed By The Gun, New Matilda, 27 Oct 2009
It's just one small town in central China but it's full of armed soldiers. The tension in Xiahe reveals a lot about ethnic tensions in China's outlying areas.
Above: An explosive moment from Jia Zhangke's A Touch of Sin.
Dan reviewed Jia's film for RealTime.
Above: Chinese artist Ai Weiwei (right), alongside Chinese independent documentary maker
Ai Xiaoming, in a moment from Alison Klayman's acclaimed documentary
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, which Dan reviewed for RealTime.
Above: Chinese filmmaker Jian Yi of IFChina Original Studio, interviewed by Dan for RealTime arts magazine.
Photo Dan Edwards
Beijing rockers Buyi. L-R Drummer Fang Fang, bassist Lin Na, singer/guitarist Wu Ningyue, and guitarist Zhang Wei. Dan interviewed Wu Ningyue for The Beijinger.com.
Beijing, 2007 Photo: Dan Edwards
“We Are All Dispensable” - Confessions of an Elevator Operator, TheBeijinger.com, October 21, 2009
Interview with Beijing author Jimmy Qi, whose Yu Li: Confessions of an Elevator Operator is an uproarious tale of China’s surplus labor. Yu Li (whose name literally means “extra manpower”) is a migrant worker transported from rural China to the lift of one of Beijing’s classiest apartment blocks, stuffed with celebrities and important officials. The responsibility of transporting these powerful men and alluring women from floor to floor is almost more than a country boy can handle, especially with a “nuclear weapon” in his pants ready to go off at any moment.
It's OUR Party, New Matilda, 30 Sep 2009
On Thursday the People's Republic of China celebrates its 60th anniversary, but as Dan Edwards reports from Beijing, the Chinese people are not invited to the party.
Salt of the Earth - Buyi Launch Their Second Album, theBeijinger.com, September 25, 2009
Buyi’s (布衣) rough-hewn, folk-inflected rock has long been a mainstay of Beijing’ live music scene, inspiring a hardcore following of fervent fans. Dan Edwards talks to the band on the eve of the release of their eponymous second album.
The Great China Land Grab, New Matilda, 24 Sep 2009
If you're living or working in one of China's urban centres, you may have something that some very powerful people want. Dan Edwards looks at the systematic land grab unfolding in China's large cities.
There's Big Trouble Down At The Mill, New Matilda, 31 Aug 2009
The arrest of Australian Stern Hu is just the tip of the iceberg in a story of corruption, worker unrest and murder in China's massive steel industry.
Moving on From Mao - Karen Smith on Liu Heung Shing's Images of Change, The Beijinger, 31 Aug, 2009
Liu Heung Shing is a living legend in Chinese photography circles. The Hong Kong-born photographer took his first professional images in China following Mao's death in 1976, and over the following seven years produced an extraordinary body of work capturing daily life in a rapidly transforming nation. A collection of Liu’s images from 1976-83 have been selected by another legend of the Chinese art scene, British art critic and curator Karen Smith, for the Seek Truth from Facts exhibition currently on at the Three Shadows Photography Art Center. Dan Edwards spoke to Karen about the special qualities of Liu’s work, and what his images tell us about contemporary China.
Chinese Photography: Out of the Shadows, RealTime 92, Aug-Sept, 2009
Dan Edwards talks to Chinese Photographer Rong Rong about his Three Shadows Photography Art Centre in Beijing, and the inaugural Three Shadows Photography Award.
China's New Generation Of Online Novelists, New Matilda, 22 Jul 2009
For the first time in over half a century, mainland Chinese have a space in which they can read and write fiction free from the dictates of state ideology.
But We Have NO Race Problem In China!, New Matilda, 13 Jul 2009
Dan Edwards reflects upon attitudes towards minorities in China, and how entrenched attitudes contribute to tensions in areas like Xinjiang and Tibet.
Memories Of A Forgotten Reformer, New Matilda, 10 Jul 2009
The recently published memoirs of former Chinese premier Zhao Ziyang reveal the brutal truth behind the Communist Party's grip on power, and the turning point that was faced by the PRC in mid-1989.
Forgetting Tank Man Costs China Dearly, New Matilda, 4 Jun 2009
China's Government has been amazingly successful at deleting the 4 June "incident" from history, but forgetting comes at a terrible price, writes Dan Edwards in Beijing
The Day China's Heart Froze, New Matilda, 3 Jun 2009
Twenty years ago today, hundreds, possibly thousands were being killed in the streets around Tiananmen Square. Dan Edwards in Beijing speaks to survivors about a wound that hasn't healed.
Lost Souls Adrift in a Materialistic River, Sydney Morning Herald, May 16-17, 2009
Profile of controversial Chinese author Murong Xuecun, whose novel Leave Me Alone was recently translated into English for the first time and published in Australia.
Border Control, Chinese Style, New Matilda, 29 Apr 2009
Getting into some parts of China is hardest if you happen to be Chinese. Dan Edwards discusses his recent experience crossing into Hong Kong with his Chinese partner.
Thirty Years Of Forgetting, New Matilda, 15 Jan 2009
The Chinese Government wants its people to forget more than they remember during the 30-year anniversary of reforms that turned China into an economic giant.
Coming Soon To A Broadsheet Near You, New Matilda, 5 Jan 2009
In propagating misconceptions about the Australian film industry, media pundits are sabotaging the national conversation about screen culture.
You Just Want Us To Look Bad, New Matilda, 21 Nov 2008
Why do the Chinese get so touchy about their country's image? After a series of difficult conversations outside Beijing cinemas, Dan Edwards has a few ideas.
New Media, New to China, RealTime 87, Oct-Nov 2008
A review of Synthetic Times, a major overview of contemporary new media art practice at the National Art Museum of China (NAMOC), Beijing. Includes comments from curator Zhang Ga. The complete interview with Zhang Ga can be read here.
Beijing Up Close and Personal, New Matilda, 12 Aug 2008
As the Games begin, Dan Edwards experiences a warm glowy feeling that is only partly the result of heatstroke.
Love and Socialism on Revolution's Factory Floor, The Age, 9 Aug 2008
Profile of Chinese writer Zhang Lijia, in which she discusses "Socialism is Great!", her book about growing up in 1980s China. This article also appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald, Aug 23-24, 2008.
Review of Zhang Lijia's "Socialism is Great!", Time Out Beijing, Summer 2008
Zhang Lijia's memoir is a lively account of love, sex and intellectual ferment growing up in Nanjing during the 1980s.
Australians Behaving Badly, New Matilda, 8 Aug 2008
Parts of the Australian media contingent at the Olympics are making asses of themselves, reckons Beijing resident Dan Edwards.
798 at the Crossroads, RealTime 85, June-July 2008
Beijing's famous 798 art zone is undergoing some dramatic changes in the lead up to the Beijing Olympics.
Art, Commerce, Action!, RealTime 84, April-May 2008
A look at the ambitious 10-film Yunnan New Film Project produced by Lola Zhang, and the first two titles in the series: The Case and The Park.
From Chinatown to China, RealTime 82, Dec 07-Jan 2008
The story of the first Australian-China animated co-production, Sweet and Sour. Includes comments from the film's producer Barry Plews.