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This
presentation is
on Prof. Ying
Zhu's
documentary
about the
pioneering
Chinese
educational
filmmaker Sun
Mingjing. Sun’s
documentaries
marked a
pinnacle of
China’s
non-fiction film
production in
the 1930-40s
yet, up until
the early 2000s,
his name was
scarcely
mentioned in
film history
books in China
and his films
were mostly
unknown to the
generation of
filmmakers
growing up
during the PRC
era. The
historical snub
has to do with
Sun’s Christian
Universities
affiliated and
Nationalist
government
funded film
practice. Sun
made all his
films during his
tenure at the
Jingling
University (now
the University
of Nanjing), one
of the thirteen
Chinese
Christian
Universities
founded by the
United Board for
Christian Higher
Education.
During his
Jingling era,
Sun was in
charge of making
one hundred
nineteen films
on topics
ranging from
travelogues to
science,
education,
industry,
agriculture,
public affairs,
ethnic and folk
culture, and
religious
activities. His
camera captured
rare footage of
Japan’s
Chongqing
atrocity, local
village
elections,
Tibetan’s
Buddhist
rituals, etc.
His films bore
witnesses to the
evolving
political,
economic,
social, and
cultural
landscapes of
China in the
1930-40s.
More than half
of Sun’s films
were archived at
the Department
of Education
under the
Nationalist
Government. The
archived films
were screened
widely across
China at the
time. Among his
oeuvre were
China’s first
color film
"Solar Eclipse"
(1936) and the
first sound film
in color, "The
Frontline of
Democracy"
(1947).
Sun joined
Beijing Film
Academy in 1952,
bringing along
the Film
Department he
founded at
Jingling
University.
Sun’s career was
short-circuited
soon afterwards.
He was labeled a
"rightist”
during
the
Anti-Rightist
Campaign
(1967-58) and
endured a
prolonged
hardship during
the subsequent
Cultural
Revolution. He
passed away
quietly in 1992.
Prof. Zhu's
documentary
traces Sun’s
film practice
from his
youthful
fascination with
camera through
the heydays of
his career until
the abrupt end
of a brilliant
film practice.
Sun’s personal
journey is
intertwined with
the journey of
China throughout
its volatile
political era.
The film further
features a few
prominent
historical
figures
associated with
Sun during the
era, including
the American
missionary
Minnie Vautrin,
who risked her
life protecting
local Chinese
women from
Japanese
soldiers during
the rape of
Nanjing.
The film
juxtaposes raw
footages of
Sun’s films with
interviews of
his colleagues
and students,
many of them
known cultural
figures in
contemporary
China.
Prof. Zhu's film
further
spotlights Sun’s
US connections.
Sun was
remarkably
knowledgeable
about US
documentary film
practice. Sun
spent a year in
the US from June
1940 to 41,
watching and
studying
documentary
films in New
York. He was
instrumental in
translating
ninety-nine US
educational
documentary
films into
Chinese. Sun
formed close
relationships
with a few key
players in the
US film industry
during his stay
in the states.
Studios
including Walt
Disney presented
him free prints
of old classics.
The old films
proved
invaluable to
China’s film
education. Sun’s
American
connection was
extended during
WWII when Sun
prompted the US
army crash
courses on
cinematography
two years. To
thank Sun for
his contribution
to the War
effort, Vice
President Henry
Wallace visited
Jinling
University at
Chengdu in June
1944, donating
14 US
educational
films to Sun’s
Department. All
of these are
touched upon in
my documentary.
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