Set against the backdrop of China’s turbulent 20th century, the three-hour opening film A New Old Play 2021 has gained significant recognition and critical acclaim in recent years. With great pleasure and honor, we proudly secured the Berlin premiere of this film, offering the audiences in Berlin an extraordinary and unforgettable viewing experience. The closing film, Small Talk 2016 was a heartfelt documentary by Taiwanese filmmaker and social worker Hui-Chen Huang, which received the prestigious Teddy Bear Award for Best Documentary at the 67th Berlinale. Additionally, we also screened Tharlo 2015 by Pema Tsedan, a prominent figure of the "Tibetan New Wave", along with another short film titled Bek by Jingyi from Xinjiang, showcasing our dedication to promoting diverse voices from different ethnic backgrounds.
Prior to the festival's opening, we had the privilege to host a thought-provoking roundtable discussion with the theme "Female Gaze and Subaltern Speak in Contemporary China," featuring five distinguished guests representing diverse fields. The panel included esteemed figures such as Xiang Biao, the director of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, film studies professor Yu Qiong from Newcastle University, associate professor of sociology Zhou Yunyun from the University of Oslo in Norway, senior lecturer Heike Frick from the Sinology Institute at Freie Universität Berlin, and independent filmmaker Chen Danting.
The success of our ICCW 2022 has greatly increased our prominence. Our Instagram account has gained over 1,000 dedicated followers so far, and our WeChat public platform has amassed an impressive following of over 2,000 subscribers. Notably, artists and cultural luminaries in Berlin, including Asian filmmakers and film curators, have been increasingly discussing collaboration with us. CiLENS, together with ICCW, is steadily becoming a distinctive and dynamic presence representing the Chinese world within Berlin’s cultural landscape.