Citizen Filmmakers in Provincial China

April 12, 2010
By Stephen Hubbell

Thumbnail from YouTube Video CQxMfq74TGA

Open Society Fellow Jian Yi is a filmmaker and the founder of a pioneering organization that helps ordinary citizens in Chinese cities document their lives through videography, theater, and photography. Provincial communities are losing collective memory as residents migrate to the coastal metropolises in search of work. Jian Yi believes that video technology can preserve that memory, while stimulating a sense of civic engagement and strengthening shared values. He is currently working to seed a project in Ji’an City, the cradle of the communist revolution and the major pilgrimage site for Maoists across China.

In the clip above, he talks about why citizen filmmaking matters today in China.

Stephen Hubbell

Stephen Hubbell is a senior program officer for the Office of the Vice President with Open Society Global Programs.

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