A glimpse of China’s changing culture

For over a quarter of a century, Minnesotans have reveled in the rare opportunity to spend a week diving into the cultures and lives of people from across the globe – at least for ninety minutes at a time. One of the most exciting aspects of the Minneapolis/ St. Paul International Film Festival, now in its 26th year, is the opportunity to meet the people that actually work on the films that they see.

On Tuesday night, April 21st, at the swanky, brand new Hotel Ivy in Downtown Minneapolis, about forty artists, educators, and film fans mingled with each other and with Beijing based film maker Jian Yi before sitting down to watch a screening of his documentary, Super Girls. After the showing of the film, an eclectic panel of academics and professional artists discussed with the audience of about forty the meaning of the film, the political and cultural currents in China and globally of which it is a part, and its place within its genre and the wider film world.

Jian Yi, the director of the film, who was present at the screening, is also showing his film Bamboo Shoots in the MSP International Film Festival. Super Girls was actually not planned to be a part of this year’s Festival, but Steve Sugarman, owner of Gallery 13 and annual sponsor of the Festival, decided that people should see this film, and he sponsored what was dubbed a “between films” event. Generous partners such as Pizza Luce and The Hotel Ivy lent their support to make the event possible.

Super Girls is a documentary about the television show Super Girls, made in the Hunan province in China, that, despite being banned by the Chinese government midway through its second season, became the most popular show in Chinese history, at one point pulling down audience figures in the hundreds of millions. Jian Yi calls it a very important cultural event. The show was modeled after other TV phenomenon like American Idol or the British Pop Idol. The Chinese version, Jian Yi joked, “could not have been called Chinese Idol, because in China everyone’s idol is Chairman Mao.” The show, consequently named Super Girls, invited young women from all over China to compete for a chance to be a celebrity and perform on national television.

The show caused such hysteria that the government had it pulled off the air. At its height, 80,000 hopeful pop stars flocked to singing contests held around the country. The winners of the contest were chosen via SMS messages from fans – the winner in 2006 received over 5 million SMS votes. In China, where citizens are not even allowed to vote for their leaders, many believe that the show’s evocation of democracy was one of the main reasons that the authorities had it banned from the airwaves – the government also declared that any voting for television contests would no longer be allowed, as well.

The camera followed several of the 18 to 20 year old contestants, in a sort of “fly on the wall” style, as they vied for instant stardom. Through the scenes, the viewer can see how the phenomenon of Super Girls spawned, or perhaps is itself part of, a new capitalist mentality in China. This mentality is having a huge impact on younger generations in the country in a way that some say is changing the often closed society.

Following the film was a panel discussion that included the director/ film maker, Jian Yi, Jason McGrath, Assistant Professor U of M Asian Studies and author of Postsocialist Modernity, David Davies, Professor of Asian Studies at Hamline University, Mark Tang, an independent film maker, and Meng Tang, Assistant Professor in the Department of Cinematography at the Beijing Film Academy.

Although the maker of the film, Jian Yi, is based in Beijing, the capitol of China, he is currently working in New York on a grant from Asian Cultural Center. He has many concepts that he would like to develop, including the building of Citizen Arts Center in his home town in China. His hope is that it could be a place for citizens to develop more conceptual art projects, “to use art to help people find themselves, to have a voice.”

Jian Yi says he is very frustrated by what observers call a rise in Chinese nationalism, such as that seen in angry protests against French companies after the events surrounding the Olympic Torch Relay in Paris. “It is like people are shouting blindly in the dark – they do not have a sense of self.” He says the state has the ability to manipulate this nationalism, and that it will exist as long as the government wants to use it. Mass media in the country is tightly controlled – every film must pass through the censors, television and print are closely watched, and even the internet is policed.

Jian Yi also said, however, that there is a growing awareness of “the absurdity of that kind of blind nationalism,” that “people are beginning to see the danger of it.” However, he went on to say that “you cannot hear the rational voices coming out of China,” only the nationalist voices that are shown in the state media.

Gallery 13 sponsors Film Fest events every year, and has art showings at their location in Northeast Minneapolis all year. They can be reached at Info@gallery13.com.