“The motivation for this research stems from my personal experience as a documentary producer.”
Cheung Titleung, a documentary producer, independent film researcher, and curator, presents this book, which originated from his doctoral thesis. The study focuses on four documentary film festivals in East Asia:
Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival──the first documentary film festival in Asia
Documentary Film Festival China──the cutting edge of Chinese independent documentaries
Taiwan International Documentary Festival──a festival blending elements of museology
Chinese Documentary Festival──a competition platform open to the global Sinophone region
Unlike major commercial film festivals, the primary focus of these documentary film festivals is not on business negotiations or the buying and selling of screening rights. Instead, they emphasise collaboration, creating spaces for gathering, hosting workshops and seminars, and concentrating activities at specific venues. By welcoming more groups into their respective festival communities, they build infrastructure that facilitates exchange, connection, and sharing.
All these efforts serve a unified goal: to ground themselves locally while looking outward globally, fostering regional documentary production and nurturing filmmakers.
Oringal title: Extending the Local: Documentary Film Festivals in East Asia as Sites of Connection and Communication
Author: Cheung Titleung
Translator: Chan Ka Yin (Chapter 1), Rina Lee (Chapter 2), Leung Tsz-kit (Chapter 3)、Yeung Wing Ting (Chapter 4), Tsui Wai Kei (Chapter 5), Ho Lok Sang (Chapter 6 and 7)
Editor for Translation Script: Li Chun Yi
Editor and Translation Review: Enoch Yee-lok Tam, Xie Lina
Art & Design: So Lai Ping and Hsu Wai Lun@mmmmor studio
Edition: First edition, December 2024
ISBN: 978-988-70723-1-7
DOI: https://doi.org/10.70783/extendinglocal
Page: 300
Price: HK$138
Content
Recommendations
Preface by Mette Hjort
Chapter 1: Gap in the Study of East Asian Documentary Film Festivals
Chapter 2: Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival──Connecting Locality, Building Festival Communities, and Continuous Expansion
Chapter 3: Documentary Film Festival China──Independence and Underground
Chapter 4: Taiwan International Documentary Festival──Exhibition, Education, and Archiving in a Museum Context
Chapter 5: Chinese Documentary Festival──Positioned Between the Sinophone World and Local Hong Kong
Chapter 6: On Local-ness and the Locals
Chapter 7: Conclusion
Appendix 1: Filmography
Appendix 2: Film Festivals in Hong Kong
Appendix 3: Interview and Participant Observation Schedule
Appendix 4: Organisational Details of Each Film Festival
Appendix 5: Submission and Selection Details
Appendix 6: Production Locations of Films Selected for Competition at the Chinese Documentary Festival
About the author
Cheung Titleung (1982–2020)
PhD, Department of Visual Studies at Lingnan University. Cheung is a documentary filmmaker, producer, independent film researcher, and curator. He is a key figure in promoting the development of local independent films and documentaries in Hong Kong.
In 2017, he founded the Hong Kong Actual Images Association, organising programmes such as “Hong Kong Documentary Retrospective: The 1980s to 1997.” Through this, he has worked tirelessly to promote local documentary culture, introduce international documentary practices, and provide Hong Kong audiences with opportunities to engage with documentary works from neighbouring regions and around the world.
In addition to his curatorial work, Cheung has been an active educator for many years, teaching film appreciation and documentary production courses at various institutions across Hong Kong.
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Recommendations (in order of Chinese name stroke)
Titleung is a pioneer in the study of Asian film festivals. He innovatively put together documentary film festivals from Japan, China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, exploring how curating festivals serves as both a methodology and a practice to “extend the local.” In his passionate writing, he focuses on how cultural local-ness can be preserved and disseminated, and how the “dynamism” of documentaries can connect and endure. His research is groundbreaking and remains incredibly valuable today. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to festival organisers, cultural practitioners, and filmmakers!
──Wood Lin, Curator of the Taiwan International Documentary Festival, Director of Research and Curatorial Affairs, Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute
My acquaintance with Cheung Titleung began with the Ogawa Shinsuke Retrospective at the Hong Kong Independent Film Festival. Only later did I realise that his interest extended beyond documentaries to include deep insights into documentary festivals. Extending the Local not only provides an in-depth study of key Asian documentary film festivals but also examines the role of Hong Kong productions within them. In an era when film festivals are often reduced to mere promotional strategies, Cheung’s perspectives are invaluable.
──Vincent Chui, Former Artistic Director of Ying E Chi
Reading Cheung Titleung’s book stirs a mix of emotions.
What surprises me is that this academic work is both accessible and well-researched, packed with rich information and written with engaging flair. Whether for scholars or general readers like myself, it is thoroughly readable.
The book studies four film festivals, two of which—one in Beijing and the other in Hong Kong—are now part of history. Cheung recounts their stories with such eloquence that one cannot help but feel wistful after reading.
What also evokes deep feelings, of course, is Cheung’s passing. Fortunately, he has left us with this important work. This book not only preserves a part of Hong Kong’s past but also keeps his memory alive in our hearts.
──Tammy Cheung, Hong Kong Documentary Filmmaker
This long-awaited book on East Asian documentary film festivals is not only a foundational
study, analysing the history, mission, and character of key events. It also contributes to the
diversification of film festival studies, shifting the spotlight away from feature films and from
Europe. Combining archival research, interviews, and participant observation, this sensitive and
ethical research will be a baseline for years to come.
──Chris Berry, King’s College London
The documentary film festivals discussed in this book have inspired many others around the world: with their unique formation history, with their innovative work of discovery, and with their persistent pursuit of truthfulness. Deeply rooted in local communities, they take strength from the home ground, yet they bring together and influence people globally. Tit Leung was the pioneering scholar who saw and expressed these unique contributions in his ground-breaking study. We have been learning from him.
──Dina Iordanova, Emeritus Professor in Global Cinema, University of St Andrews, Scotland Publisher of the Film Festival Yearbook