dGenerate Films

03/27/2021

OVID’s April Releases: Peter Watkins' "La Commune (Paris, 1871)" & more! - metafilm | OVID.tv

OVID.tv's April schedule is pretty amazing - not only many great features and docs but also the premiere and exclusive streaming presentation of Peter Watkins' incredible epic LA COMMUNE (PARIS 1871) https://metafilm.ovid.tv/.../ovids-february-releases.../ - and not only once but twice - for they will have both his original 5 hour 45 version made for ARTE, as well as the subsequent theatrical version, of only 220 minutes. So you can take your pick! 34 new films in total.

OVID, the curated streaming destination for documentary and art-house films, announces its wide-ranging selection of 34 films coming in April. Many of the films are premieres and available only on OVID.tv.

03/25/2021

The Chinese Lives of Uli Sigg

The Chinese Lives of Uli Sigg

Directed by Michael Schindhelm • Documentary • With Uli Sigg, Ai Weiwei, Cao Chong’en, Cao Fei, Pierre de Meuron, Hans-Peter Fallegger • 2016 • 93 minutes A documentary about the entrepreneur, diplomat and art collector Uli Sigg, and the tense sociopolitical context of China's ongoing tran...

03/16/2021

The East Wind State Farm

THE EAST WIND STATE FARM examines the tragic events of Chinese modern history during the height of Maoist rule. Director Hu Jie collects extensive interviews with both inmates and staff who served through 21 years of thought reform in a rural labor camp: ovid.tv/videos/the-east-wind-state-farm

Directed by HU Jie • Documentary • 2009 • 101 minutes Condemned "Rightists," sentenced to 21 years of thought reform in the countryside, share harrowing first-person accounts of life in a Chinese labor camp. In 1957, 200 teachers, students, and cadres were labeled as "Rightists" for voicing cr...

02/25/2021

More than Movie Theaters

Read dGenerate co-founder Karin Chien's "More Than Movie Theaters: Why Aren’t We Talking About Exhibition?" on the streaming service OVID's blog: metafilm.ovid.tv/.../more-than-movie-theaters-why.../

Don't miss a conversation with her this Sunday, February 28th, 10 AM PST/1PM EST: joinclubhouse.com/event/xBXZg6ep

Sunday, February 28 at 7:00pm CET with Karin Chien, Amy Hobby, Abby Sun. A conversation with Distribution Advocates about their latest post “More Than Movie Theaters: Why Aren’t We Talking About Exhibition?” https://distributionadvocates.substack.com/

02/08/2021

Zeng Jinyan on China's Working Women - metafilm | OVID.tv

Zeng Jinyan on China's Working Women - metafilm | OVID.tv

In a feature interview with Jinyan Zeng for Documentary.org, the producer and director Zeng Jinyan behind films including We The Workers (2017) and Outcry and Whisper (2020) provides a Chinese perspective and a feminist point of view on working women in China.

02/04/2021

The Face of Working Women in Chinese Documentary

The Face of Working Women in Chinese Documentary

January 27, 2021 The Face of Working Women in Chinese Documentary By Jinyan ZengShare: Editor's note: What follows is an edited version of filmmaker Zeng Jinyan's keynote address at the 2020 Getting Real Documentary Conference. To watch the full keynote, head to https://www.documentary.org/video/zen...

02/02/2021

Icarus Films Sets Virtual U.S. Release for Golden Horse Award Doc Winner ‘Lost Course’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Coming March 5 to virtual release via Film at Lincoln Center
, Laemmle Theatres
in LA, and Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive
!
"dGenerate Films
Founder and President Karin Chien said she was drawn to Li’s 'extraordinary ability to obtain unprecedented access to the electoral process in a Chinese village' and craft 'a complex, intimate and honest portrait of democracy. The film could not be more relevant for American audiences — it provides an uncanny mirror of our own democratic experiment, exposing the fragility of the people and bonds that hold it together.” via The dGenerate Collection of Icarus Films
.

The dGenerate Collection at indie distributor Icarus Films will release the journalistic Hong Kong doc “Lost Course” in the U.S. starting March 5. The Chinese-language film about a democratic villa…

01/27/2021

OVID’s February Releases: Exclusives/SVOD Premieres, Includes "False Confessions" Starring Isabelle Huppert, Tsai Ming-liang’s "Rebels of the Neon God" and "The Hole" & many more! - metafilm | OVID.tv

Explore OVID's February line-up: metafilm.ovid.tv/2021/01/25/ovids-february-releases-2021/

OVID.tv, the curated streaming destination for documentary and art-house films from around the world, is adding 30 incredible films in February to its growing roster, most of which are exclusives and premiering for the first time on SVOD.

01/22/2021

Recommend having a listen to this podcast episode with Karin Chien, co-founder of dGenerate Films, the great distributor of *independent* Chinese films. She also discusses OVID and
Icarus Films: soundcloud.com/luciddreamingpodcast/karin-chien-conversation-3/s-jxuFbqXoGj6

01/15/2021

Watch the landmark independent Chinese films, OUTCRY AND WHISPER (ovid.tv/videos/outcry-and-whisper)and AN ELEPHANT SITTING STILL (ovid.tv/an-elephant-sitting-still) on OVID with your free 14-day trial!

OUTCRY AND WHISPER (ovid.tv/videos/outcry-and-whisper)and AN ELEPHANT SITTING STILL (ovid.tv/an-elephant-sitting-still) are two independent Chinese films you can't miss. Both are now streaming on OVID.

Co-Founder of dGenerate Films Karin Chien has written a short essay for our blog metafilm on these two films and how a diversity of structures of distribution and exhibition can allow for a multiplicity of points to thrive: metafilm.ovid.tv/2021/01/13/towards-a-thriving-film-culture/

01/15/2021

Towards A Thriving Film Culture – metafilm | OVID.tv

Karin Chien, Co-Founder dGenerate Films, has contributed this short essay https://metafilm.ovid.tv/.../a-portrait-of-contemporary.../ to the new OVID.tv: metafilm blog. Comments are "enabled" so feel free to add a note about how you see it?

January 13, 2021 Towards A Thriving Film Culture On the occasion of the streaming release of two landmark Chinese independent films – Wen Hai and Zeng Jinyan’s Outcry and Whisper and Hu Bo‘s An Elephant Sitting Still – the good folks at Ovid asked me to share some thoughts. If you watch only...

01/06/2021

Happy New Year from OVID.tv – metafilm | OVID.tv

For the New Year - our streaming partner OVID has posted about how things are going with them > https://metafilm.ovid.tv/.../01/06/happy-new-year-from-ovid/# < and in the film / streaming world in general. Check it out. And note: they have now enabled "comments" on the blog.

January 6, 2021 Happy New Year from OVID.tv (Image from Softie, premiering on OVID on January 29th) As we enter the new year, it seems appropriate that I report on aspects of how OVID is doing. I also want to point you in the direction of two interesting articles which I think contextualize what OVI...

12/14/2020

OVID

OVID

"Apple TV Was Making a Show About Gawker. Then Tim Cook Found Out. Big tech companies now exert huge influence over what stories get told." nytimes.com/2020/12/13/business/media/apple-gawker-tim-cook.html

On OVID we have 31 films from @dgeneratefilms all made outside the Chinese censorship system. Netflix nor Apple would ever go near these.

The best way to support independent storytelling is to become an OVID member and buy someone a gift subscription: ovid.tv/checkout/subscribe/purchase

12/05/2020

Master List of Films on OVID – metafilm | OVID.tv

OVID just posted a "master list" of all the films now on that streaming service, including many from dGenerate Films! https://metafilm.ovid.tv/master-list-of-films-on-ovid/ And you can sort or search it by title, studio, director, cast, genre, etc. OVID adds more films every week of course, so this list will be updated monthly.

From time-to-time we plan to share information about the films available on OVID.tv: what they all are, where they come from, how many and which films in particular genres, who made them, when they come and when they might (might!) go away.

11/30/2020

OVID

OVID

Get 25% off your first 6 months of OVID! This offer expires tonight! Use promo code "SAVE" at check-out: ovid.tv/browse

A monthly membership gets you unlimited access to films from Bullfrog Films Distrib Films US First Run Features Icarus Films Kartemquin Films KimStim & more!

10/05/2020

dGenerate Films - OVID.tv

The streaming service OVID is the place to watch indie Chinese cinema. Have a look at our collection on there http://ovid.tv/dgenerate-film-collection

We're giving away free 1-month subscriptions to 10 people who share this message and comment below with which film they'd love to watch!

Winners will be announced Friday.

dGenerate Films distributes contemporary independent film from mainland China to audiences worldwide. We are dedicated to procuring and promoting visionary content, fueled by transformative social change and digital innovation. dGenerate Films combines pioneering relationships in China with next...

09/28/2020

OVID

OVID

Zeng Jinyan, producer of the Chinese doc WE THE WORKERS, is giving a keynote speech at IDA's Getting Real this Friday Oct 2, 5:30p.

Registration is free: sites.grenadine.co/sites/documentary/en/gettingreal20/register

Stream WE THE WORKERS on OVID: ovid.tv/videos/we-the-workers

08/31/2020

Outcry and Whisper (Hong Kong/China, 2020)

"Emphatically continues the steely thematic thread of resistance to forms of state oppression and intimidation with which all tiers of activists in China and Hong Kong must contend." Read on for Rowena Santos Aquino's review of Zeng Jinyan's documentary and latest dGenerate film OUTCRY AND WHISPER.

For their latest film collaboration, documentarian Huang Wenhai (credited as Wen Hai) and activist Zeng Jinyan as co-directors, alongside Trish McAdams’ animation, present a veritable collage of wo…

08/25/2020

OVID is a streaming service for international films, with many from China. Here's a chance to win a free 1-month subscription!

Hi guys,

All fans of the #MiddleEarthPodcast fans can win a free month of OVID to binge-watch their exclusive films, they have over 60 movies from China alone.

You can claim this price just by :
1) Sharing your favorite Middle Earth's episode on any social media
2) Tag us/send a screenshot
3) 10 winners to be announced early Sept.

Gotta say we are pretty exited to offer something to those interested by China's cultural industry, some movies cannot be found anywhere else!

With the support of @OVID SupChina & dGenerate Films

Re-find all episodes here : https://supchina.com/series/middle-earth-chinas-cultural-industry-podcast/

08/25/2020

Getting Real NOW: Re-Wiring Distribution Networks

In pursuit of a new documentary distribution paradigm, independent producer and distributor Karen Chien and strategist Gary Chou will take a step back and look at the networks involved in filmmaking and the inequities that have resulted from them to date.

Join International Documentary Association for this digital conversation about where power sits in the film industry today and what opportunities there might be for creators to engage with it and reclaim it.

RSVP for "Re-Wiring Distribution Networks" on Thurs, Aug 27 11:00 PDT: https://www.documentary.org/event/getting-real-now-re-wiring-distribution-networks

Join us for a conversation between Karin Chien & Gary Chou about where power sits in the film industry today and what opportunities there might be for creators to engage with it and reclaim it.

08/25/2020

"Outcry and Whisper": A conversation between Jinyan Zeng, Trish McAdam, and Gina Marchetti

We have a conversation between Jinyan Zeng, Trish McAdam, and Gina Marchetti up now: http://dgeneratefilms.com/post/outcry-and-whisper-a-conversation-between-jinyan-zeng-trish-mcadam-and-gina-marchetti

For anyone interested in #feministfilm, this is one to read.

This text is edited from Gina Marchetti’s online conversation with Outcry and Whisper directors Jinyan Zeng and Trish McAdam on April 29, 2020 following the film's premiere at Visions du Réel.

07/28/2020

New collection on OVID starring many dGenerate titles: ovid.tv/art-of-slow-cinema

Over the past few months, we've had friends like Hyperallergic and the NY African Film Festival curate collections of their favorite films on OVID.

Today, we present "Essential Streaming from The Art(s) of Slow Cinema": ovid.tv/recent-collections

"When writing my book on Slow Cinema, I found myself time and again drawn to films coming from Asia. There is something very specific about them: their density, their observation of fast-paced changes, their portraits of what it means to be human today differs from films from other continents. Perhaps, it is the documentary character to most of them. Perhaps, it is because countries such as China, see the most rapid (and therefore also brutal) development in living memory. Filmmakers respond to this with observing the changes, recording them for future generations and posing vital questions as to how much a human being and a society can take." —Nadin Mai, Founder of The Art(s) of Slow Cinema

07/21/2020

Immersive: Advancing Equity & Inclusion in the Documentary Field

Immersive: Advancing Equity & Inclusion in the Documentary Field

Join DOC NYC PRO for a deep-dive conversation about advancing social equity and inclusion in the documentary field. Guests include Nicole Tsien, board member of Brown Girls Doc Mafia; Denise Greene of Black Public Media; Day Al-Mohamed, independent filmmaker and founding member of FWD-Doc, Karin Chi...

07/02/2020

OVID

OVID

"A pair of documentaries serve as an introduction to Hu Jie, a documentarian whose films memorialize the horrors of the Mao era.": nytimes.com/2020/07/02/movies/spark-and-the-observer-review.html

This is the second review on these two films in the NY Times this week! Watch both on OVID: http://ovid.tv/browse

06/30/2020

Excavating Chinese History, One Harrowing Film at a Time

Read on for a great New York Times feature on Hu Jie, a director whose films we have had the privilege of supporting since our beginning and is the director and subject of our two newest films available now.

The work of Hu Jie, who has made more than 30 movies, is little known even in China. The release of “Spark” and “The Observer” should make him better known abroad.

06/30/2020

OVID

OVID

Today, we're releasing two films by and about Chinese dissident artist Hu Jie films on OVID. A glowing review in the New York Times this week says that "for more than 20 years, the filmmaker Hu Jie has been trawling the deep waters of Chinese history to create a series of harrowing documentaries about the early years of Communist Party rule." nytimes.com/2020/06/28/movies/hu-jie-films.html

"SPARK (ovid.tv/videos/spark) — a film that has undergone many iterations, alternations and expansions — reconstructs the fate of a group of young people who started an underground journal 60 years ago. And THE OBSERVER (ovid.tv/videos/the-observer), a documentary about Hu by the Italian director Rita Andreetti, is at once a sympathetic portrait of the filmmaker and an introduction to his films."

06/16/2020

OVID

OVID

A new interview with Yi Cui, the filmmaker behind OF SHADOWS and THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS is up on the dGenerate Films site: dgeneratefilms.com/post/interview-with-yi-cui-on-through-the-looking-glass

It's by Miasarah Lai, a documentary filmmaker and community coordinator for Brown Girls Doc Mafia. Don't miss it!

06/12/2020

OVID

You can find dGenerate films on OVID: https://www.ovid.tv/dgenerate-film-collection

Enjoy the collection!

"A fantastic streamer for people with a taste for foreign, political, and otherwise beyond-the-American-mainstream films." — Vanity Fair

OVID is the home for films from an independent world. Start your free 14-day trial today: OVID.tv

youtube.com/watch?v=hLhjhHjXv9E&feature=youtu.b

05/26/2020

Today OVID moved to a new platform. With a new design and more features. www.ovid.tv What do you think?

Today we moved OVID to a new platform. With a new design and more features. What do you think? www.ovid.tv

04/30/2020

5 Documentaries That Captivate China's Creative Life

5 Documentaries That Captivate China's Creative Life

dGenerate’s catalogue of documentaries includes many politically critical – and excellent – films, but it also has several titles that point a lens at China’s artists: musicians, filmmakers, puppeteers, stage performers, providing an insight into the day-to-day lives of those trying to make ...

04/30/2020

OXHIDE's Narrative of Refraction and the Dreamy Daze of WINTER VACATION

OXHIDE's Narrative of Refraction and the Dreamy Daze of WINTER VACATION

Quentin Tarantino’s western drama, The Hateful Eight (2015), was lauded for the similar artistic decision of using an ultra-wide lens on someone’s face, in lieu of the usual exterior landscape, an entire decade after Lui had already contorted the technique in an arguably more fascinating capacit...