Village Self Governance Project

Film-maker Wu Wenguang belongs to a generation that has set itself the task of showing ways of living on the margins of legality – as in his two films that portray young artists who are staying in Beijing without a work permit. They feel that it is more important to determine their own lives than to live a secure, officially sanctioned existence.

Film-maker Wu Wenguang presents his latest project. Self-administration is introduced into China’s villages: a completely novel step in the country’s 3,000-year-old history. This process has completely changed the dynamics of public life in China’s rural regions. Even though it affects some 900 million people, hardly anyone – and certainly not those affected – has documented this development so far. By offering the village inhabitants an opportunity to document the changes (they are given their own camera equipment), this film provides a completely new perspective on the situation. Wu Wenguang is showing a number of these films as well as photographs.