Panel Discussion: China’s New Documentary Cinema (1988–1994)

Presented by China Unofficial Archives, CiLENS and Berlin Contemporary China Network (BCCN).

This series revisits key works of the Structure Wave Youth Cinema Group (SWYC), a pioneering collective central to the emergence of China’s New Documentary movement. Produced in the late 1980s and early 1990s—a period when documentary practice in China was quietly but decisively reimagined—these films belong to a transitional moment shaped by political, social, and aesthetic turmoil. Most were censored, and many have never been screened before. Seen today, they recover a long-forgotten phase in Chinese documentary cinema, offering critical insight into the early years of China’s reemergence as a global power.

Learn more about the film series, which takes place from March 12th - March 14th, here

The result of a multi-year effort to digitize and document China's New Documentary Movement, “China: Unseen Histories, Unsettled Memories” marks the first time that this body of work has been presented together. Two of the films have never been publicly screened anywhere. Three of the four are being shown in Germany for the first time, while another was last presented in an abbreviated version three decades ago. Together, they form the foundational corpus of China's New Documentary movement, a body of work that continues to challenge the state's monopoly on history. 

Panel Discussion: China’s New Documentary Cinema (1988–1994) 

Ian Johnson in conversation with Biao Xiang and Sam C. Mac.

A public discussion contextualizing the emergence of China’s New Documentary movement, the SWYC group, and the historical, institutional, and ethical questions raised by the films in the program.