ELEN, MONET, TINA, MAX - BLOG 4
To further our research about Chinese cinema, we decided to explore how BAMPFA uses its platform to screen films that actively combat the racist nature of cinema from the past. While actively searching the BAMPFA website for a series that met our objective, we came across the fantastic Chinese Portraits film series curated by Kathryn MacKay. We also decided to reach out to wonderful curators like Christina Yang, Susan Oxtoby, and Kathy Geritz. Still, they all referred us back to Kate MacKay due to her excellent expertise on the topic and phenomenal success of the Chinese Portraits film series. During our interview, we discussed the process of organizing and curating film series, the stereotypes that exist within the 1910s and 1960s films, the impacts the Chinese film screenings have on the community, and the Stop Asian Hate movement.
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Kathryn MacKay has been the Associate Film Curator at the BAMPFA since April 1, 2016. Kate MacKay hails from Toronto, where she served as the programmer and interim artistic director of The Images Festival of Independent Film and Video, one of North America’s largest alternative cinema and media art festivals. MacKay’s programming activities have also included positions as guest curator at the Ryerson Image Centre; guest programmer for TIFF Cinematheque; programming associate for Wavelengths, Toronto International Film Festival; curator of installations for The 8Fest; and a guest presenter moderating conversations with visiting filmmakers at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Her wide-ranging areas of interest span historical and contemporary periods, emphasizing independent film.
MacKay’s involvement in film programming began while she was undergraduate studying philosophy and cinema studies at the University of Toronto and became active with the Innis Film Society. She became highly interested in cinema after discovering that artists use cinema not only as an entertainment medium but as expressive artistry as well. Kathryn shared that BAMPFA has been on her radar since the early days of her film involvement due to its history of programming and a fantastic range of cinema. Kate appreciated the field of international films that BAMPFA screened, from the beginning of cinema to contemporary world cinema. She was particularly interested and passionate about Asian and African film archives that BAMPFA owned. She believes that BAMPFA is truly a gift to the Bay Area due to its substantial, vibrant, avant-garde diversity: from silent films to contemporary cinema worldwide.
Kathryn MacKay, along with Michael Nylan, and Weihong Bao, curated the fantastic Chinese Portraits film series screened at BAMPFA from March 5-17, 2022. Presented in conjunction with the Townsend Center’s In Dialogue with China: Art, Culture, Politics — a series that brings together Chinese and Western panelists to engage in cutting-edge dialogue on the history and current state of Chinese art, culture, and politics — the films in Chinese Portraits use different forms of cinema to offer a multifaceted view of China in various eras.
Carma Hinton’s Abode of Illusion looks at the life and work of the influential painter Chang Dai-chien, who created tens of thousands of paintings refining traditional Chinese painting techniques and emulating the styles of great painters of previous generations.
In Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue, Jia Zhangke recorded reminiscences and sampled the work of the writers at a Shanxi literary festival while also documenting the physical and social changes that have happened to the region.
That drama is distinct from the documentary Chinese Portrait, yet the two films share a similar epic scope and elegiac spirit. Filmed over ten years in different locations throughout China, the Chinese Portrait consists of long static shots recorded on 35mm film and video formats. While documenting people and places amid change, Wang also made a poignant attempt to suspend time.
The Chinese Portraits series was also created around in a similar way. Michael Nylan, a Professor in the History department at the University of California Berkeley, reached out to Kate MacKay with the potential idea to create another film series. Kate shared that the Chinese Portraits series took a long time to make. In collaboration with Professor Nylan, Kate began looking at various Chinese films and pulling materials from multiple archives. In the end, they came to a conclusion to take a broader view of the possible options since there is such a wide range of Chinese cinema. “At BAMPFA, during the screening of various films, we always aim to have variety; we always look at what is meaningful at the moment, what festivals are going on at campus, and what is in the public interest,” shared Kate. She further explained that they always look for diversity in films: from documentary and experimental films to avant-garde cinema and fiction features. BAMPFA always aims to show the best of world cinema in its best disguises, from challenging avant-garde cinema to more challenging topics. Kate shared that the Chinese Portraits series had a huge success and very high attendance. “The films are not easily accessible outside of the cinema, so it was beautiful to see it all come to life,” explained Kate.
During the interview, Kate also talked about the massive influence of the PFA on cinema. She shared the story of Wayne Wang, who became the brilliant director we all love and appreciate today because of the screening he attended at the PFA. He found his passion for making the movies such as Dim Sum, A Little Bit of Heart, and other films at the PFA. “This example shows how huge of an influence PFA has on young filmmakers, having them inspired by the variety of films presented,” shared Kathryn.
We also asked Kate’s opinion about the stereotypes in the 1910s and 1960s films and how these films actively combat them. “Chinese character stereotypes are usually seen as weak/super mastermind criminals/early cinema drug dealers/prostitutes,” shared Kate. “We give huge importance to screening Chinese cinema made in China because it shows a more nuanced portrayal of Asian characters,” further explained Kate. In addition, having Asian American directors making their own stories gives us an authentic view of China. Thus, as a curator, Kate always looks for stories and films that she has never seen before, filmmakers she has never heard of, and stories never heard.
Lastly, Kathryn MacKay shared how the film industry mirrored the struggles of Asian Americans. “There are more nuanced representations of Asian Americans in the media, and certainly more nuanced in the 21st century, but the stereotypes still exist,” explained Kate. “The more the stories, the more diluted the stereotypes will become,” she continued. She explained that it is crucial to be aware of what mass media stereotypical representations have done to shape how we see ourselves and each other. We need to find films that will make us think more nuanced about one another.
In conclusion, our team had a great pleasure speaking with Kathryn MacKay. Her thoughtful understanding of cinema, passionate advocacy for the film as an art form, and years of experience nurturing audiences with a diverse range of approaches to cinema were great sources of research about Chinese cinema. In our next blog post, we plan to share our thoughts on the current state of our project. In addition, we plan to share our knowledge about the changing history, culture, and community in this specific part of the Bay Area and how it impacted our initial approaches to our class questions regarding changing theater spectatorship and relationships. Meanwhile, thanks for reading! We hope you enjoyed it!
BAMPFA Announces the Appointment of Kathryn MacKay as Associate Film Curator. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://bampfa.org/press/bampfa-announces-appointment-kathryn-mackay-associate-film-curator
From Cosette: Reading about the Chinese Portraits film series was great! If the goals were to combat stereotypes and racism, how were the curators able to ensure that these films were seen by people that need to see them and shown enough in order for this goal to be effective in the end? From your blog, you comment about how the screening at BAMFA was a great success, and that's wonderful! But it sounds like it was screened once and to a relatively limited audience that might be the kind of people inclined to not have these biases already. You have a quote from the curator that notes that these films are usually hard to access. Has there been a move to make this film series more accessible generally, perhaps through an online platform, or hold screenings in places known to be epicenters of Asian racism?
ReplyDeleteThe Chinese Portrait film series is very interesting and sheds light on the racism that the Chinese and asian community has had to endure over the years. What does this group think would be the best way to tell more people to watch this series? How does a series like this relate to modern day movements like Stop Asian Hate ? How do you believe that BAMFA should be used by the community to learn more about Chinese film?
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post on the interview. I love your idea on the function of BAMPFA in fight against racism. I think it is very empowering and closely tied to our local culture as Berkeley students. The process of organizing the Chinese Portrait series described in your interview with MacKay makes me realize the various efforts needed to put in to make a film event successful. I also think you extended more by connecting the interview with your main focus of the project to elaborate on the changing film history of Asian American community in the Bay Area. Great job! I personally also like to watch film screening in BAMFA a lot so I am excited to read more about your research findings in the future!
ReplyDeleteA wonderful interview with MacKay (so informative and important) - it is great to read about your questions and what you learned. It also is clear that you have created greater understandings of historical and even very recent film programs at PFA, which is wonderful. As you work towards wrapping up, think about how you can incorporate broader secondary academic sources through our library to revisit your original questions and contextualize your findings --connecting them to a broader field and larger stakes that you've already started identifying. Looking forward to reading your conclusions.
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