​Discover Our Events
September 2023-program
​The Feuerle Collection x CiLENS Open-Air Chinese Film Nights
In collaboration with The Feuerle Collection, CiLENS presented an extraordinary open-air film screening featuring captivating works from the Chinese-speaking world, curated by Désiré Feuerle, during the Berlin Art Week 2023, from September 14-16.
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In order to conceptually round up his Gesamtkunstwerk characterized by the guiding theme of sensuality and beauty, Désiré Feuerle has chosen a series of cinematic creations that artfully explore the subject of visceral desire in human life, encapsulating complex emotions and connections that resonate deeply with the human experience.
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During the 3-day event, Open-air Chinese Film Nights showcased 11 incredibly diverse and imaginative films, including 2 feature-length films and 9 shorts, with the highlight being the finale film, Wong Kar-wai’s Happy Together. This cinematic journey, enriched by Lin Wang's curated tea experience, blended the richness of Chinese tea culture with the art of cinema for a unique sensory journey.
New Woman, New Narrative
April - June, 2022 - program
​A film curation series that delves into the tension between the pervasive patriarchy in China and Chinese women who experience a sweeping feminist awakening. Transgender teenage girls, rural poets, university students, lesbian activists... These women, while facing distinct yet interconnected challenges in life, collectively confront them as women. Their diverse journeys, have given rise to extraordinary narratives of resilience and empowerment.
​Indie Chinese Cinema Week Roundtable Discussion:
Female Gaze and Subaltern
Speak in Contemporary Chinese
November 19, 2022 - panel
​In the post-COVID era, while China’s isolation from the world poses many epistemological challenges, independent cinema offers a rare glimpse of its reality today. As the prelude to the Indie Chinese Cinema Week, this roundtable invites an emerging Chinese female filmmaker and four engaging scholars from anthropology, sociology, cultural studies of China to have a dialogue revolving around the concepts of “female gaze” and “subaltern speak”.
CiLAN'S invited five speakers: Professor Xiang Biao, Dr Zhou Yun Yun, Dr Heike and filmmaker Danting, as well as Professor Yu Qiong, who was unable to attend but supported us remotely, presented a thought-provoking roundtable discussion to the 80 on-site audience and nearly 200 online viewers. Each of the four guests recommended the films in the festival that they found most moving and interesting.
The questions we would like to address include: How do female filmmakers break through a male-dominant industry? When transforming from the gazed object to the gazing subject, what do female filmmakers see through their camera lens and what are our expectations of their work? What is the ‘female gaze’ in relation to China’s rising feminist movements?
In a time of political depression and routine precarity, who is China’s ‘subaltern’ today and where are their voices? What is the relationship between women and the subaltern? What kind of subaltern and female representations do we need? We hope the open roundtable will bring scholarly, artistic and cinematic reflections into synergies and create new dynamics for public debates.
​Cannes Chinese Film Night
May 26, 2023
​Cannes Chinese Film Night, jointly initiated by CiLENS and Naiguan Film Paris, held on the evening of May 26th during the Cannes Film Festival, with a cocktail party for about 150 people. Guests included all the Chinese film creators (directors, actors, producers, etc.) who have been selected for the Cannes Film Festival this year, teachers of the Chinese-language film media, senior executives from the Chinese film industry, representatives of European film companies, bloggers and young directors attending Cannes. Representatives of the Chinese film industry, representatives of European film companies, bloggers and young directors attending Cannes will be among the guests, creating an opportunity for in-depth exchanges with each other.
​Berlin Chinese Film Night
February 23, 2023
​On the evening of 23rd February during the 73rd Berlinale, CiLENS and NaiguanFilm successfully hosted the first Berlin Chinese Film Night - the young directors and creative teams selected for the Berlinale were all present.
Berlin Chinese Film Night is a special event, which aims to promote and showcase Chinese-language cinema and provide an opportunity for young directors and creative teams to present their work. Participating directors and creative teams will have the opportunity to share their experiences and views on filmmaking with members of the media, other guests and industry insiders.
Berlin x Chengdu Open-Air Speisekino 2023
In collab with ZK/U
June 29, 2023
​This special open-air event stands as one of CiLENS’ signature cultural initiatives. With Chengdu as its focal point, cinema as its conduit, and food and culture as its connectors, this event graces Berlin’s stage. Beyond acquainting a wider Berlin audience with Chengdu, its purpose extends to constructing a link between two cities, two cultures, and their denizens. Notably, it stands out as CiLENS’ most engaging and diverse audi- ence-engaging endeavor.
Berlin x Chengdu Open-Air Speisekino 2022
In collab with ZK/U
July 14, 2022
​This special open-air event stands as one of CiLENS’ signature cultural initiatives. With Chengdu as its focal point, cinema as its conduit, and food and culture as its connectors, this event graces Berlin’s stage. Beyond acquainting a wider Berlin audience with Chengdu, its purpose extends to constructing a link between two cities, two cultures, and their denizens. Notably, it stands out as CiLENS’ most engaging and diverse audi- ence-engaging endeavor.
ICCW
​2022 Indie Chinese Cinema Week
Nov 25 - Dec 3, 2022
ICCW 2022, curated by an all-female team, presented a selection of 16 films. Within the feature film section, we delighted the audience with 4 German premieres, and highlighted our feminist vision with works from 4 talented female filmmakers. Our short film section offered a diverse range of genres, including documentary, drama, experimental, stop-motion animation, with a strong emphasis on supporting the creativity of emerging young directors.
Set against the backdrop of China’s turbulent 20th century, the three-hour opening film "A New Old Play" (2021) has gained significant recognition and critical acclaim in recent years. With great pleasure and honor, we proudly secured the Berlin premiere of this film, offering the audiences in Berlin an extraordinary and unforgettable viewing experience. The closing film, "Small Talk" (2016) was a heartfelt documentary by Taiwanese filmmaker and social worker Hui-Chen Huang, which received the prestigious Teddy Bear Award for Best Documentary at the 67th Berlinale. Additionally, we also screened "Tharlo" (2015) by Pema Tsedan, a prominent figure of the "Tibetan New Wave", along with another short film titled "Bek" by Jingyi from Xinjiang, showcasing our dedication to promoting diverse voices from different ethnic backgrounds.
Prior to the festival's opening, we had the privilege to host a thought-provoking roundtable discussion with the theme "Female Gaze and Subaltern Speak in Contemporary China," featuring five distinguished guests representing diverse fields. The panel included esteemed figures such as Xiang Biao, the director of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, film studies professor Yu Qiong from Newcastle University, associate professor of sociology Zhou Yunyun from the University of Oslo in Norway, senior lecturer Heike Frick from the Sinology Institute at Freie Universität Berlin, and independent filmmaker Chen Danting.
The success of our ICCW 2022 has greatly increased our prominence. Our Instagram account has gained over 1,000 dedicated followers so far, and our WeChat public platform has amassed an impressive following of over 2,000 subscribers. Notably, artists and cultural luminaries in Berlin, including Asian filmmakers and film curators, have been increasingly discussing collaboration with us. CiLENS, together with ICCW, is steadily becoming a distinctive and dynamic presence representing the Chinese world within Berlin’s cultural landscape.