Date: August 20, 2011
Place: Xi’an art Museum
Convener: Jingwei Gao, President of Shaanxi Normal University General Publishing House Co., Ltd
He Suliu, head of China Documentary Research Center
Brazil film culture exhibition sets up a bridge between Brazil and China, two geographically remote countries. In fact, as far as the cultural exchange among different countries is concerned, the image of documentary film is a very important carrier, which is not only the cultural transmission, but also the political transmission actually.
Gao Youxiang, professor in School of Journalism and Media of Shaanxi Normal University
Today we learn Mr. Zhang’s dedicated pursuit to take photograph and documentary film in Brazil. I see his works this afternoon, I am deeply moved although it is a documentary film merely. The documentary people have persistent and perfection-seeking spirit. I feel that Mr. Zhang is a model for documentary people in China to learn. Moreover, I see these static photographs of Mr. Zhang just now, and I feel very good, which express the relationship between human and nature, human and history, as well as human and environment. The journey of a chinese to Brazil is an international view of course, a cross-cultural exchange mentality to reflect a foreign country, a knowledge of the living status of lower level people in the country of another side of the globe. I feel these images are different from those of many mountains and rivers in our country currently. Why are they different? The images of mountains and rivers in our country will stimulate people to travel there, while those taken by Mr. Zhang Yanjun are of exposion nature. I am impossible to go to Amazon River, where there are no people and with no living conditions. Chinese people can hardly travel there, while we shall get to know Brazil landscape from which perspective. This is what we shall orientate in. So I am deeply interested in Mr. Zhang’s film. I hope that I have the opportunity to wholly learn and analyze Mr. Zhang’s documentary film in the future. The content, which the whole world has in common and people focus on, reflects simple values, while where is the penetration point of them? The penetration from culture is to discuss the common living status of the whole world and embody true human care. Cultural integration is used to reflect the multi-culture while it requires the pursuit of beauty. We shall make the work interesting and full of poetry. I feel Mr. Zhang’s documentray film full of poetry, it is true and worthy of the name for the subject “Brazil-Poem of Love”. China fails in external propaganda. Our country develops socially, economically and in democracy process, why the world can not see these? I feel it lies in our propaganda strategies, our propaganda has been called “propaganda”. Our propaganda is more of an ideological propaganda, no basic knowledge of human, society and ecology other than political and ideological propaganda. Today Zhang Yanjun says: our Confucius Institute is a failure. I do not agree with Confucius. Why, that is why we establish Confucius Institutes in over 200 countries, and the national image film of New York, according to my opinions, is also a failure. It flashes several hundreds of figure images for a long time, it is said that the foreigners and Americans can not understand what these mean, in our country, we shall follow Yao Ming, Zhang Ziyi and Zhang Yanjun…
Wang Gang, professor of Photography Department of Communication University of China
Anthropology thus creates unique living method. Because it researches culture, paying attention to that the researchers must go deep into one culture for at least one year and experience a circle of spring sowing, summer field management, autumn ploughing and winter storage. This circle is different, so are the seasons and cultural formation. You must go deep into the culture, and then study the language simultaneously and experience it, which is a kind of qualitative research completely different from political research. To feel and experience it. I see that Mr. Zhang and others just have gone deep into this culture for complete ten years to experience this culture. Thus, he has his practical feelings at which his film targets. Moreover, I am also deeply moved when I just began to read exhibition introduction this morning which Brazil consul general writes. That is, as a documentary person and dream-seeker, it is precious to have this pursuit…
Niu Hongying, deputy dean and doctor of School of Journalism and Media of Shaanxi Normal University
Seeing the two twenty-minute short films, firstly, I feel the beauty and warmness, which means they can move you although they are not complete stories. Now, so many documentary films are suspensive and tell stories, which interrupt you by controlling you with narrative strategies. While we see it (this film) with simple colors and then close technique of expression. I feel that the image formation and presentation are very beautiful. While they are not rejecting and remote rather that they are warm like that you can understand, walk close to and care, which makes your feel that they can touch your heart naturally. From my point of view, the children and a family included in them contributing for the ideal and to the society is a romantic and attractive behavior touching me so deeply. Thus, this kind of individual imaging method is of great value, while, it has limited promotion degree because of many objective limitations. Thus, from my point of view, I think that, we have so many materials, and close and attractive perspectives, how can we get them under deep processing and repeated effective utilization to make them more effective public cultural resources…
Ma Congmin, secretary general and doctor of Film and Television Research Center in West China
Today, I am very interested to get in touch with Mr. Zhang who I respect. Then I want to say some points: first, it is all-media, head Gao mentioned just now, in fact, it is what we see today, including moving images, static images included in the moving images, as well as the exhibition I see. Our future achievements maybe also include books and words, with much information content and media. So it is not the problem of how it will become in the future, and I think the final product forms are various, which are in line with the requirements of the young people for cultural products, so from this penetration point, it is a very good choice. Moreover, I want to say that, China we see in the images just now and in Carnival is not familiar as before other than a creative China. I feel exactly that this is a very important point for cross-cultural field, which is not only a record but also a creation. So, once this behavior occurs, either we get in touch with the foreigners which is very individual cross-cultural exchange or organized or civil cross-cultural exchange, once occurrance, this behavior is worthy of persistence. This is what I want to point out secondly, that is why I adore it, or to say upon seeing this project, it arouses my zeal on cultural transmission and makes me an ideal to engage in cultural undertakings. The third is, upon seeing this film, I feel that it seems a grand narrative, because we hear a voice over telling the history of Amazon River, while we see a family and an adventure that just this grand narrative and a family form a special and interesting tension, which is different from some propaganda film or travel film, so beautiful but prohibitive with no close feeling, and that it is a narrative containing beautiful images as well as life and emotion flow, which I feel it is precious. So, I feel the film is valuable just in its view point and folk perspective, if the folk perspective is replaced with official perspective, I feel that its value and attraction will fade away…