On June 9, the 16th International Archives Day, the China Film Archive held a series of special events themed under "Oral History: Filmmakers in the Archives". The occasion saw the screening of "The Old Well" (1986), a Wu Tianming film newly restored in 4K by the CFA, the showing of digital archives and oral history videos in connection with the director as well as the sharing of the latest results from the the "Oral History of Chinese Cinema" project and the "Chinese Film Oral History Book Series". Ms. Sun Xianghui, Director of the China Film Archive, Mr. Lin Siwei, Deputy Director, and Ms. Wu Yanyan, daughter of director Wu Tianming and Head of the China Film Foundation Wu Tianming Youth Film Special Fund, were present at the evening's special event.
Lin Siwei, Deputy Director of CFA, addresses the audience
Sun Xianghui, Director of CFA and Ms. Wu Yanyan draw prizes for the audience
Wu Tianming, a prominent figure among China’s 4th generation filmmakers, was widely known for his masterpiece "The Old Well". The film’s 4k version screened on June 9 was recently restored by the CFA which has always valued the academic importance of film archives. This year, new progress has been made in the oral history collection project of Chinese filmmakers, notably with the publication of "Tianming Stories: Interviews with Wu Tianming, His Family and Friends", a book compiled by the CFA researcher Chen Mo. Following the film’s screening, Zhang Jin, another researcher at the CFA Research Center, talked about how the book was compiled, highlighting the importance of interviews with filmmakers and film oral history in general.
Post-screening talk
Oral history book on Wu Tianming
As a follow-up event, the "Wu Tianming Oral History Digital Archive Exhibition" is open to public between June 9 and 15. The exhibition brings together an array of Wu Tianming-related texts, images, interviews and video clips, enabling a multifaceted understanding of the director and his career.
Wu Tianming Oral History Digital Archive Exhibition
Furthermore, an improved version of the CFA English website was officially launched on June 9. In Archival Gems, users can now search for the information of 78 restored Chinese classics from our collection, with more titles to be added. For movie institutes and festivals around the world, the new search system is likely to facilitate their enquiry and rental of restored films from our archives, hence further strengthening the exchange and mutual learning of film culture and archival experiences between China and the rest of the world.
As part of the activities celebrating the International Archives Week, the CFA also opened its Beijing Film Vault to visitors. On June 7, a group of 20 movie buffs were privileged to be there. They listened to lectures on film preservation, experienced film inspection and projection, and visited the well-protected film and document storage vaults.
Archives are unique and irreplaceable treasures passed down from generation to generation. Their preservation requires social and historical responsibilities. As a national archive, the CFA has been celebrating the International Archives Week (Day) for seven consecutive years. On such occasions, we have given the public access to precious film archives, held lectures to increase people’s knowledge of cinema, and shared the research and utilization results of our archives. Through these activities, our archivists continue to explore the social and cultural values of film heritage for greater public awareness, and we are doing our part for the cultural prosperity of modern China.