Call for Guest Bloggers – Chinese Cinema of the 1980s & 1990s

In collaboration with the DC Chinese Film Festival, VCinema is seeking guest bloggers for a series of posts on the theme of Chinese Cinema of the 1980s & 1990s. Founded in 2011, DCCFF brings together artists, film professionals, film lovers, and scholars to Washington DC for special screenings, incisive panel discussions, and vital networking events. This year’s festival will be held in September and is taking a retrospective approach with a focus on the landmark films of Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan from the 1980s-1990s. Throughout these two decades, the films that emerged from Greater China reflected the region’s rapid changes while providing glorious escapism through a wide range of genres, thereby paving the way for the global cinematic landscape of today.

To coincide with this year’s festival, we invite pieces from bloggers, journalists, and scholars that explore the theme of Chinese cinema of the 1980s & 1990s to be posted in the run-up to the event.

Topics may include but are not limited to:

• Directors (Fruit Chan, Peter Chan, Chen Kaige, Feng Xiaogang, Tsui Hark, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Huang Jianxin, Ann Hui, Clara Law, Ang Lee, Tsai Ming-liang, Edward Yang, Wong Kar-wai, John Woo, Zhang Yimou, etc.)
• Stars (Jackie Chan, Stephen Chow, Ge You, Jiang Wen, Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung, Chow Yun Fat, Andy Lau, Tony Leung, Gong Li, Brigitte Lin, Michelle Yeoh, etc.)
• Cinematographers, editors, composers, costume designers
• Distribution and marketing
• Studios and production companies
• Genre, sub-genre, localized genres
• Commercial trends and cycles
• Film festivals and the art-house circuit
• Literary adaptations
• Local culture and tradition
• Local, regional, and national identities
• Global culture and its emergence
• Representations of urban or rural space
• International influence and co-production
• Sound, music and language
• Fashion and style culture
• Representations of economic and social trends

Lengths of pieces can vary but should fall into the 700-1,200 words range in order to balance accessibility with detail. A short biographical note should be included with each piece.

Please submit pieces in MS Word format to VCinema co-editor John Berra at john.berra@gmail.com

All pieces will be cross-posted at VCinema and the official blog of the DC Chinese Film Festival.