This article was taken from the July 2014 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by <span class="s1">subscribing online.
Western documentary-makers find it tough to get funding, but spare a thought for their Chinese counterparts -- for whom censorship, detention and beatings are all part of the job. Ten years ago, there were few truly independent Chinese doc-makers. In 2006, things began to change -- thanks to CNEX, a non-profit funder and festival organiser aiming to back 100 films by 2016. "Now we are in the age of the documentary -- documentaries are like blogs," says Ruby Chen, CNEX CEO. "The gadgets we have, like phones, are so handy to record. At the same time, the people of greater China -- Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China -- need to understand each other better. The documentary allows us to reflect on each others' lives."
CNEX -- short for "Chinese Next" and "See Next" -- aims to support "a sustainable strategy for the contemporary Chinese documentary-making," Chen says. The foundation began in 2005 when the three Taiwan-born cofounders, Chen, Ben Tsiang and Chang Chao-wei, met in Beijing and collaborated on a film about the changing face of modern China. Realising that one film wasn't enough, the trio raised money from local technology investors.
Every year, the CNEX foundation backs eight to ten films financially and provides technical support and mentoring. "Many of our film-makers are young, but [the documentary form] itself is young in greater China, so we help with anything from storytelling to editing techniques," she explains. CNEX films now win global awards -- Du Haibin's 1428, about the aftermath of the Sichuan earthquake, won Best Documentary at the Venice Film Festival and is now receiving backing from the Sundance Institute and the Ford Foundation.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
