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China Film Group State Production Base
The China Film Group Corporation is the largest state-owned film production and distribution company in China. It is the only official importer of foreign films to China and has had a hand in numerous large scale co-productions bringing foreign stars to China, including Matt Damon in The Great Wall and Keanu Reeves in Man of Tai Chi. The production base in Yangsong Town, Huairou, outside Beijing, includes state-of-the-art digital production facilities, sixteen sound stages, equipment and props warehouses, and large outdoor studio lots. On any given day you might see a busy 20th century street scene, a martial arts fight, […]
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African Streets outside Beijing
One of the newest additions to China Film Group lot outside Bejing is a North African streetscape built for megahit action film Wolf Warrior II (战狼2). In the 2017 film, a former elite special ops soldier saves a group of Chinese nationals caught up in a rebel attack in an unnamed African country. The film is one of a series of recent releases that highlight contemporary China’s global reach. As Evan Osnos wrote in The New Yorker, “Wolf Warrior II captures a new, muscular iteration of China’s self-narrative, much as Rambo’s heroics expressed the swagger of the Reagan era.” It […]
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The Beijing Film Studio
While little actual film production takes place in Beijing these days, the capital area remains an important center for the film industry, home to the Beijing Film School, the China Film Archive, the National Film Museum, and the central government’s film and television administration. The old Beijing Film Studio in central Beijing, now largely abandoned, was used for classic films such as The Last Emperor (1987) and Farewell, My Concubine (1993). The remaining warehouses and back lot have been slated for demolition. I visited last year to photograph the surviving set pieces, a few small clusters of traditional wooden shops […]
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China Film Project Statement
China is poised to become the largest motion picture market in the world. A set of images documenting enormous exterior film sets constructed around China.
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“China Film”: Upcoming exhibition at Black Rock Center for the Arts
The exhibition “China Film” documents film sets, locations and the vast outdoor movie sets around Beijing, Shanghai, and Hengdian, China. The images provide a window into an evolving movie industry and global media culture. The exhibition will be on view November 18-December 19, 2015 at Blackrock Center for the Arts. Plans to travel the exhibition are in the exploratory stages. Meet the Artist Reception: Saturday, November 21st from 5:30 – 7:30 PM. Artist Talk: Sunday, December 13th beginning at 4:00 PM. Gallery Hours: Monday – Friday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM. Saturday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 p.m. ABOUT THE EXHIBITION: […]
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Caochangdi and 798
On recent trip to China, I visited two of Beijing’s arts districts. A good map and a working knowledge of Mandarin go a long ways in navigating these reclaimed industrial zones. I had neither. I showed the taxi driver a piece of paper with the words “798 arts district” written out in Chinese. After making our way out of the center and onto the airport road, he stopped next to a pedestrian bridge and motioned for me to get out of the car. All I saw was an enormous electronics store, but around back was the start of the arts […]
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