Module Catalogue 2025/26

Pre Requisite Comment

Open to any Newcastle University student

Co Requisite Comment

Can be taken with Level C or Level D

Aims

Chinese independent documentary is widely recognized as an important achievement of recent Chinese cinema, bearing witness to profound social and political changes and their impact on the everyday lives of ordinary Chinese people. This module discusses independent documentaries since the early 1990s and their function as a dynamic force to challenge the concepts of art, truth, reality and ethics constructed in official discourses and to explore alternative spaces, places, voices, and images that have been ignored or distorted by the mainstream media both in China and in the West.

This module aims to:

1) introduce significant works from leading Chinese documentary filmmakers in the past three decades;
2) discuss a range of cultural, social and political topics addressed in these documentaries in relation to the fast-changing landscape of China, the lost personal and social memory and a crisis-ridden and complex political environment;
3) examine various documentary styles from the observational, participatory, activist to performative and experimental.

Outline Of Syllabus

Week 1 Introduction: the Emergence and Development of Independent Documentary Filmmaking since the 1990s

Block 1 Contemporary Art and Artists

Block 2 Gender and Sexuality

Block 3 History, Trauma and Memory

Block 4 Globalisation, Demolition and Environment

Block 5 Social Injustice and Disasters

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

1) An awareness of the role of independent documentary in recording social, cultural and political changes of China in the past three decades.

2) A knowledge of a diverse range of documentary techniques/styles Chinese independent documentaries have employed in engaging with social reality of China.

3) An understanding of social issues, cultural landscape, historical interrogation and political environment in contemporary China, as represented in the selected documentaries.

4) An ability to think critically about documentary filmmaking within a wider social-political-cultural context.

Intended Skill Outcomes

1) Taking notes effectively in lectures and seminars, from journals and secondary material.

2) Identifying and making effective use of secondary sources.

3) Analysing cinematic texts in relation to different filmmaking styles.

4) Operating effectively as part of team work discussion.

5) Planning and writing a well-argued and analytical essay in English.

6) Enhancing inter-cultural competency.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

1) Lectures provide students with background information and familiarise them with the issues raised in different documentaries.

2) The subsequent seminars provide an opportunity for students to discuss the documentaries and the ways they reflect current social reality of China. Seminars also provide a chance for students to present arguments in an appropriate fashion independently and within a team.

3) Students will be expected to read preparatory texts closely and watch required films as lectures and seminars will assume knowledge of these.

The module will be taught and assessed in English.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The essay allows evaluation of the development of the following cognitive and key skills: independent research, critical thinking, bibliographical work, planning and organisation, word-processing, footnoting and referencing. The presentation allows evaluation of communication skills and planning and organisation skills, and prepares students for their final essay writing.

General Notes

N/A