Forgotten Images

Author: Li Xing, Liu Xiaoqian, Wang Jifang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: A documentary is a load of shit; it doesn’t feel right unless you let it out. — Wu Wenguang
Forgetting seems to be an inescapable ailment for ordinary people. People use various tools to preserve their memories, and this is what recording is about. — Chen Zhen
The way I shoot is that the camera hardly moves, because for me, life itself is utterly captivating. I extensively use long takes, which was my basic narrative method when making documentaries. — Wen Pinlin
Look at this society—how much of it is fake? We face such a huge lie! That’s why I still make documentaries. — Zhang Yuan
In this world, I haven’t yet found anything more interesting than making art or anything else compared to making documentaries. — Jiang Yu
Since the birth of documentaries, internationally speaking, it has been a relatively mainstream direction—focused on society and people. — Duan Jinchuan
Documentaries are actually a kind of nostalgia for our youth, an ideal that can never be extinguished. As long as the timing is right, we will return to this creative pursuit. — Time
I think the qualities a documentary filmmaker should possess are essentially the same as those of a feature film director, or even a writer or a reportage author. — Wang Zijun
Documentaries are undoubtedly a cultural movement. Whether it’s a movement, the inspiration for a collective consciousness, or the current state of pure technology—like the widespread use of jump cuts and on-site shooting in the "New Wave"—history never happens all at once. It has to first "eliminate" the "enemies" and complete its mission. — Chen Jue
Where is the origin of China’s new documentaries? The authors of this book, after ten years of research, have interviewed nine firsthand witnesses and closely studied eight pieces of footage, revealing for the first time the true origins of China’s new documentaries. The authors and their collaborators pursued this journey with great passion and meticulously recorded the history of China’s new documentaries. The firsthand accounts of the witnesses vividly document the creativity, processes, reflections, and progress of the participants at the time. The "Film Readings" section provides readers with a detailed look at the precious documentaries left behind for future generations, serving as invaluable primary sources. On the occasion of the centennial of the birth of Chinese cinema, the publication of this book adds another layer of significance.