Starting in 2006, The Center for Religion and Media’s co-director Angela Zito joined forces with Zhang Zhen in Cinema Studies at NYU to produce the Reel China @NYU Documentary Biennial. It showcases documentary work by filmmakers who work outside China’s state-sponsored film system, with a special interest in the ethical activism enabled through such filmmaking. Reel China is presented by The Asian Film & Media Initiative, The Department of Cinema Studies, and the Center for Religion & Media.
The Reel China @NYU Film Festival presents a sampling of the most outstanding contemporary independent films produced in China. Participating filmmakers range from more experienced professional documentarians to young novices. As their disparate visions extend and overlap, we witness the persistent presence of independent cameras that, amidst the disorienting transformation in China, assures the discovery and documentation of fragments of contemporary reality that are becoming history at breakneck speed.
