About the Film Talk

According to the needs of the prevention and control of the pneumonia epidemic of the new coronavirus infection, to avoid the cross-infection caused by the gathering of people, Rockbound Art Museum will postpone three events as below. For the time and place update, please check out our future WeChat posts and official website. All current event reservations will be canceled, please make reservations after these events are rescheduled.

The film A Cambodian Spring opens with the Boeung Kak Lake development project of 2007, as its five chapters explore the conflict between democratic movements and the state government in Cambodia’s progress towards modernization, spanning a time period of eight years. From small lake protests to street altercations, the film is presented as an ever-rising crescendo, demonstrating the awakening of political consciousness among the Cambodian people under strict government rule, and brings a fresh spring breeze to a country that is exposed to intense summer heat all year round. In addition to hand-recorded scenes of demonstrations which bring 4viewers right into the protests, the film focuses on the leaders of the movement, which include Tep Vanny, female representative and former resident of the Boeung Kak Lake area, as well as Buddhist monk Luon Sovath, who has risen to the forefront of the movement. Vanny’s transformation from a woman forced to stand up for her rights to an active protester is shown in the film, as well as Sovath’s “religious activism”, where the ancient, hermetic religion of Buddhism is transformed into a crucial stepping stone in the path towards modernization. The serenity and devotion characteristic of the religion are what make Cambodia’s journey towards democracy distinct from other regions. Whether intentional or not, the film is similar to a documentary in that it maintains the role of “observer” even in the most profound moments of the protests, and yet also amasses strength for the movement in its tiniest of observations.

With the discussion revolving around A Cambodian Spring, guest speaker ZHOU Jiali will analyze the documentary works of directors Shinsuke Ogawa and Kazuo Hara. From thematic, narrative and aesthetic standpoints, she will expound on the filmmaking strategies used for documentaries depicting societal issues and events. ZHOU will first explore the social responsibility that comes with portraying such issues, of spreading awareness of public or societal problems to the greatest extent possible, and to emphasize the agenda or societal objective of the movie producer(s). Then, she will investigate the importance of establishing efficient communication between director and actor, between individual and individual, when dealing with societal issues, and how we can only discover the roots of such problems after establishing an effective system of communication. Lastly, ZHOU will describe the aesthetic and ethical standards of societal documentaries — how such works go about striking a balance between meaningful social criticism and the aesthetic of leaving blank spaces for open interpretation, and investigate how cinematic language is used to create visual impact when confronting the realities of society.

About the Speaker

ZHOU Jiali, Master’s graduate in Film Studies from the University of Sydney, PhD graduate in Communication from East China Normal University. Teaches at the School of Film and Animation at China Academy of Art, and is director of events of the West Lake International Documentary Festival. Author of books Audiovisual Language, West Lake International Documentary Festival: Case Documents, and The Appearance of Two Aspects — Research on Gilles Deleuze’s Film Theory.