Go Shenzhen. Go. What do I write about this place? First off, a hair cut is never just a hair cut. This place is all about nuance. Go. Go get a hair cut. This is capitalism. Oh my god! Just go. Shenzhen, City of Angels. End of all quarrels. Go. [View Full Entry]

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Today is our last day in GZ. We have one interview scheduled at Vitamin Creative Space with Xu Tan, a controversial filmmaker and photographer who had some difficulties with the Gov't because his films focus on outsiders and the disenfranchised in China. His verite films feature sex workers, drug addicts and one, deemed most inappropriate by Party members, featured several explicit acts from GZ's underground gay scene. I watched several clips from his recent film MADE IN CHINA at Vitamin, and the magic is in his clever editing. He cuts back and forth from a gender-bending sex worker doing exercises on [View Full Entry]

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We are wrapping things up in GZ as we've done with every city we've visited, and that means inviting all those that we've met in GZ up to our rooms for drinks and then for some time out on the town. Guangzhou is a chaotic urban center with 14 million people, and yesterday we had our driver take us through these back alley streets that are about 20 feet wide with makeshift shops lining both sides. As we crept through the alley with the van's sidedoor open, we got some amazing footage. Bikers and mopeds with three passengers, people crossing this [View Full Entry]

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Today, Monday, August 21st, we flew south from Shanghai to Guang Zhou to what is called the wild, wild south. During the five days in Shanghai, we interviewed two important figures in the Shanghai art scene: Victoria Lu of Shanghai MOCA and Larenz Helbling of ShanghArt Gallery. Both were excited that an American documentary filmmaker was in China to record the next wave of Chinese artists that are beginning to make a name for themselves on the international stage. There's an art explosion happening here, and I having the time of my life doing what I'm doing. Shanghai has some exceptionally [View Full Entry]

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Noah, an American filmmaker who lives here in Beijing, advised us last week not to shoot Tian'an Men Square with a digital camera, and "never ever take a tripod." Well, today Wednesday, August 16th, after buying several small red People's Republic of China flags, the three of us: Christy, my DP and Ren, our Williams-educated translator, walked onto the Square and shot the dynasty gate with Mao's portrait and several soldiers/sentries looking on. We shot Mao's Mausoleum and the Monument to the People's Heroes, all with the tripod. We got it done. Fuck no ballsNoah. There are names for guys like [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday (Saturday) I interviewed Meg Maggio, the founder of the Courtyard Gallery in Beijing. She has been living here since 1988, and she's an incredible resource. She speaks flawless Chinese. Today I am interviewing Wang Qingsong and Zhu Ming, two of my personal favorites, and Meg has arranged for two more interviews on Monday, one with Liu Zheng and Ai Wei Wei. Zheng has an incredible book called The Chinese and a more recent series called Survivor. I had been trying to contact him, and Meg represents him, so there you go. It's been like that with Meg and this is [View Full Entry]

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Those of you in the LA area should head up to The Santa Barbara Museum of Art to see Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video from China, the new exhibit featuring several of the artists I'll be interviewing, including Yang Fudong, Cao Fei, Wang Qingsong, and Yang Yong. It's a great survey of the art explosion that has been taking place in the Middle Kingdom over the last 10 years. [View Full Entry]

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THE RISING TIDE A film by Robert Adanto China. The scene of the greatest economic, social, and political metamorphosis of our time. This hybrid-nation that blends Leninist authoritarianism with a market economy, struggles to secure resources and quell growing social unrest, despite averaging 9% growth over the last 20 years. However, for most Americans, China remains a mysterious land of ancient scholars with long beards practicing their calligraphy, of qi gong and flying monks from Shaolin. Despite its breakneck race towards modernization, this enigmatic land of contradictions completely escapes the notice of most Westerners. The transformation that China has undergone [View Full Entry]

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