Documentary Reveals the Truth of Xinjiang's Religious Freedom

16 | Thursday, June 3, 2021 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY LIFE Stills from director Jia Zhangke’s films, such as 24 City (left) and A Touch of Sin (center), and a photo of Jia (second from left) with the crew of Ash Is Purest White are included in An Accented Cinema, a book by American writer Michael Berry, which has been published in China. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY Putting the director in the frame Former American interpreter and author captures the essence of Jia Zhangke’s films, Yang Yang reports. n the fall of 2002, Chinese film liang), reframe our understanding of director Jia Zhangke attended realism in Chinese cinema, bring our the New York Film Festival for attention to marginalized figures and the screening of his film locations, offer a deep meditation on IUnknown Pleasures. He was in the impact of radical social change, demand — journalists and other and create a new cinematic lan- directors wanted to interview and guage,” he says. talk to him. Events were organized, Growing up in suburban New Jer- such as post-show discussions, sey in the 1970s, Berry occasionally interviews with the media or meet- saw old Chinese kung fu movies on ing other directors such as Martin television on Saturday mornings. Scorsese. To make sure nothing was However, when he was attending lost in translation, he needed an graduate school at Columbia Uni- interpreter. Enter stage right, Mich- Gradually, Chinese versity, where his original focus was ael Berry, a postgraduate student contemporary Chinese literature, from Columbia University, who was cinema became he started watching more Chinese hired for the role. one of the primary films. Berry knew Jia’s work and was a Later, he took courses at the huge fan of his films, especially aspects of my Columbia University’s film school Xiaowu (1998) and Platform (2000), research.” with teachers like Richard Pena and which are “true masterpieces of con- Shadows and Light. James Schamus, the latter of which temporary cinema”, Berry says. The idea that originated An Michael Berry, writer of the was Ang Lee’s producer and screen- Berry found these two films unfor- Accented Cinema can be traced right book An Accented Cinema, writer. who’s also director of the UCLA gettable, not only because of the back to the New York Film Festival, Center for Chinese Studies “Gradually, Chinese cinema director’s mature cinematic tech- during which, apart from interpre- became one of the primary aspects nique and poetic framing, but also tation, Berry also did a two-hour of my research,” says Berry, who’s because every time he watched interview with the director. is a true cinematic poet”, Berry adds. now director of the UCLA Center for them, he would be immediately However, most of the interviews Although Jia’s films address the Chinese Studies. transplanted, as if in a time machine, were done in 2018, when Jia was reality of contemporary China, they From 1998 to 2003, Berry often back to 1993 and 1994, when he was invited to Los Angeles for the China are also about the human condition served as an interpreter for Chinese a sophomore in college undergoing Onscreen Biennial. Berry was one of in universal ways, he says. filmmakers and writers, such as Mo intensive Chinese language training the curators and hosted six public Another reason is that “Jia is Yan, Su Tong, Zhang Yimou, Tian at Nanjing University in East China’s discussions with Jia about eight of always reinventing himself” and Zhuangzhuang and Jia. Jiangsu province. his films selected for the biennial, continually “searching for new ways While many other established “At that time, I watched a lot of including The World (2004) and Still of storytelling and new avenues of Chinese filmmakers have embraced films, but most seemed unreal. Life (2006). cinematic expression”. commercial films, Jia continues Although the two films were set in In 2019, Jia made another visit to For the writer, there is also a per- making art films, using the medium Fenyang, Shanxi province, they are the United States before his film Ash Above: Director Jia Zhangke in action, a photo used in the book sonal reason. to raise difficult questions and often the only two films that remind me of Is Purest White was released in the (pictured above left) by American writer Michael Berry. “No matter how many times I visit explores the possibility of new cine- my experience in Nanjing, Jiangsu US. Berry hosted another two dis- China, part of my own imagination matic forms, Berry writes in the province — the sound, the music, cussions with him. of ‘China’ is still deeply tied to the introduction of the book. the faces, the clothes and of course, Based on the eight discussions book, Berry cast his eyes on China, individuals, art, film and style. It’s indelible memories from my stu- “Jia is one of the only directors the views,” Berry writes in the intro- and an interview in 2002, An film, art, and Jia, writes Dai Jinhua, Jia’s accent or voice,” Dai writes. dent days in Nanjing during the ear- from that period that has continued duction of his book An Accented Accented Cinema is divided into six professor of Chinese language and Berry is particularly interested in ly 1990s. Jia’s early films, which are for the past 20 years to stay true to his Cinema, which has been published parts which are organized chrono- literature with Peking University, in Jia’s films, because “among film- also a product of that era somehow early uncompromising artistic spirit. in China. logically. the preface of the book. makers of his generation, he is one were best able to capture the While others have slowed down, He has published seven books, It offers a glimpse into how Jia “While carefully looking and lis- of the most intellectual”, he says. rhythm of life during that unforget- dropped out, or turned commercial, including Speaking in Images: grew up as a representative Chinese tening, Berry tried to catch and tell For him, Jia’s work “is able to com- table era,” Berry says. Jia continues to follow a path of artis- Interviews With Contemporary Chi- filmmaker, the inspiration behind the accent in Jia’s answers: (Are the bine powerful images with challeng- “In those films, Jia was able to sin- tic innovation,” Berry says. nese Filmmakers, Jia Zhangke’s his films, how he makes films and accents) of China or of Shanxi’s Fen- ing ideas — and that is something gle-handedly create some of the most Hometown Trilogy, and Boiling the their wider influence. yang? It seems that what Berry we don’t see in the work of many of memorable characters in contempo- Contact the writer at Sea: Hou Hsiao-hsien’s Memories of In the interviews contained in the cares about more is the accent of other filmmakers. In that sense, he rary film (like Xiao Wu and Cui Ming- [email protected] Documentary reveals the truth of Xinjiang’s religious freedom By XU FAN delegations from Xinjiang have paid [email protected] many visits to many foreign countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia Covering a vast area of more than and Turkey, as well as attending 1.66 million square kilometers, the Islamic cultural exhibitions and per- Xinjiang Uygur autonomous formances held in countries, such as region is home to many ethnic Indonesia and Turkey. groups, harmoniously coexisting Additionally, statistics show that and following different religions Xinjiang has published and distrib- over generations. uted over 1.7 million book pertain- However, some hostile voices in ing to Islamic classic and the West have distorted the truth, missionary literature, signaling defaming the Chinese government that local Muslims have got more by suggesting that it is using the diverse access to religious knowl- “demolition of mosques” and “per- edge. secution of religious figures” to Saeed Jawad, chief of Indian “restrict religious freedom” or even Embassy News and TV Network, “eradicate Islam”. Exploration and Inquiry: A Documentary on Freedom of Religious Belief in Xinjiang, streamed on several foreign language versions of the says in the documentary: “What I Exploration and Inquiry: A Docu- China Global Television Network, on May 17 and 25, takes the audience on a tour of some of the most renowned and historical religious sites found special in Xinjiang was that mentary on Freedom of Religious in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, including the 124-year-old Yanghang Mosque and worshippers in the region. you will find so many cultures and Belief in Xinjiang, a 48-minute fea- PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY so many different ethnic minority ture streamed on the Arabic and groups in one place. English versions of the China Global “I feel very good when I see that Television Network, respectively on exchange and communication, the the documentary. Dating back to the Emperor Tai- to the region during Southern and the ethnic minority groups are liv- May 17 and 25, travels to some of the documentary visits a string of cities “Traveling” with the documenta- zong’s reign during the Tang Dynas- Northern Dynasties (420-581). ing very comfortably and their reli- most renowned and historical reli- and counties, including the region’s ry, viewers get a glimpse of the archi- ty (618-907), Qingquan Temple — As one of many historical religious rights are protected.” gious sites in the region, rebutting capital Urumqi and 2,000-year-old tectural beauty of Yanghang also located in Urumqi — is the larg- gious venues that are still being Palestinian Ambassador to Chi- the rumors with facts.

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