CHI-JANG YIN

A film by Chi Jang Yin

HD, VR inspired film, experimental documentary

4 mins, 2024

DISTRIBUTION

Video Data Bank, Chicago

SYNOPSIS

The incident was based on testimony. The VR footage was captured in the city where the girl vanished. Thousands of girls and women have been kidnapped over the decades in China. Research suggests that the trafficking of women is due to the gender imbalance caused by the country's previous one-child policy, which has led to parents favoring boys over girls.

Many of the abducted girls and women remain missing despite a government pledge to severely crack down on child trafficking and gender-based violence against women.

CREDITS

Producer, Director, VR cinematographer, Editor, Video Effects Editor, Sound Editor | CHI JANG YIN

A film by Chi Jang Yin

Experimental Documentary, 10 minutes, 2024

HD, Archival film, digital transfer photography

Press Kit

DISTRIBUTION

Video Data Bank, Chicago

World Premiere

The 70th International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Germany (Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen)

North America Premiere

The 60th Chicago International Film Festival

Sweden Premiere

Uppsala International Short Film Festival, Sweden

Official Selections

Kasseler Dokumentarfilm-und Videofest, Germany

Braunschweig International Film Festival, Germany

The 41st Tehran International Short Film Festival, Iran

Yogyakarta Documentary Film Festival, Indonesia

Film Market

Visions du Réel Festival International de cinéma Nyon, VdR–Film Market, Switzerland

SYNOPSIS

Newly uncovered 16mm footage from the US Army archives documenting the barren bombed landscape of Hiroshima raise questions of war tactics for the human race.

"I Was There" is a trilogy of experimental documentary films that explores the complexities of radiation poisoning, our society's fading collective memory of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the unresolved debate between ethics and science.
(View the other two in the series: I WAS THERE and I WAS THERE, Part III)

SUPPORTED BY

Hiroshima Film Commission Office, Japan

Urban Development Bureau, Hiroshima, Japan

Hiroshima Municipal Motomachi Senior High School

CREDITS

Directed, written, edited, research | CHI JANG YIN

Sound editing and engineer | KEVIN CAGNOLATTI

Music | ANN YI, PIANO (Bach, Concerto No. 5. BWV1056)

Graphic Design & Typography Design | CAITLIN MESKILL

A film by Chi-Jang Yin

Experimental Documentary, 14 minutes, 2023

Archival film, digital transfer photography, HD

DISTRIBUTION

Video Data Back, Chicago

World Premiere: The 27th Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, Czech Republic

Winner of Jury’s Choice Award, The 43rd Thomas Edison Film Festival – formerly “Black Maria Film Festival"

Winner of Short Film Award, The Doc Screenings Documentary Film Festival, Georgian Cinema House, Tbilisi, Georgia

Winner of Jury’s Choice Award, The 54th USA Film Festival, Dallas

Winner of Best Film, Antakya International Film Festival, Turkey

Winner of Short Film Award, Couch Film Festival, Toronto, Ontario

Winner of Short Film Award, Alternative Film Festival Awards, Toronto, Ontario

Best Experimental Film (Finalist), 2024 WSXA Barcelona | International Awards, Barcelona, Spain

Best Experimental Film (Finalist), Rome Prisma Independent Film Awards, Rome, Italy

Best Experimental Film (Finalist), Luleå International Film Festival, Sweden

Film Review: “The film's experimental framing-- layering archival footage of military forces working on the atomic bomb over images in present day, layering declassified letters from U.S. government officials regarding the use of the bomb over footage of the U.S. military's work in its development--does a great job of connecting past and present. Dr. Hida's recollections as a witness of the bombing of Hiroshima, combined with an intuitive and creative sound design, encourage the viewer to feel the weight of this indelible experience. “ – True/False Film Festival programming team

SYNOPSIS

A meditation on survivors’  memories, "I Was There" traces the experience of a physician for the past 70 years including his personal account  of the day the atomic bomb was dropped on  Hiroshima. 

Saving American lives is the commonly known and accepted  narrative of why the United States government dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. However, this narrative is contradicted by the letters and arsenal photography housed at the Truman Presidential Museum. The evidence uncovers a different  reason for testing atomic bombs on humans – competing for war power against Russia and securing a  dominant role in global politics.

"I Was There" is a trilogy of experimental documentary films that explores the complexities of radiation poisoning, our society's fading collective memory of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the unresolved debate between ethics and science.
(View the other two in the series: I WAS THERE, Part II and I WAS THERE, Part III)

CREDITS

Directed, Sound Design, Edited, Visual Effect, Research | CHI JANG YIN

In Memory Of

Dr. Shuntaro Hida (January 1, 1917 – March 20, 2017)

A film by Chi-Jang Yin

Experimental film, 7 min, HD, 2021

DISTRIBUTION

Video Data Back, Chicago

Winner of Short Documentary Award, ECOCINE International Environmental and Human Rights Film Festival, Brazil

Official Selections

Vienna International Human Rights Film Festival, Short Film Award Competition Program, Austria

Antakya International Film Festival, Turkey

The 12th Seattle Asian American Film Festival, Seattle, WA

The 28th Chicago Underground Film Festival, Chicago, IL

Alytus International Film Festival, Lithuania

Vienna International Human Rights Film Festival, Austria

SYNOPSIS

"I Was There, Part III" reexamines J. Robert Oppenheimer's speech at the Princeton Theological Seminary in 1958. The illusion of the constant, never-ending questions between ethics and sciences highlights the incompleteness of human consciousness.

Oppenheimer, the tragic iconic "father of the atomic bomb," said the danger of accumulated knowledge will outpace human capacity to make wise decisions on how to use this new knowledge. Ironically, he argued that the perpetual questioning of the effects of one's decisions on human welfare is a primary human responsibility.

"I Was There" is a trilogy of experimental documentary films that explores the complexities of radiation poisoning, our society's fading collective memory of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the unresolved debate between ethics and science.
(View the other two in the series: I WAS THERE and I WAS THERE, Part II)

CREDITS

Camera, Sound Composition and Design, Editing, Author | CHI JANG YIN

Experimental Video, 4 min, HD

DISTRIBUTION

Video Data Bank, Chicago

SYNOPSIS

Simulated systemic violence and power are captured by films and videos throughout the 1984 Deng Xiaoping National Day Parade, 1989 Tiananmen Square Protests, and 2014 Umbrella Movement. No incident is an isolated event.

For a preview or screening copy, please send an inquiry to the director, Chi Jang Yin.

A film by Chi Jang Yin

Experimental film, 11 min, HD

DISTRIBUTION

Video Data Bank, Chicago

SYNOPSIS

A flowing river, an injured arm, a dance floor, and a woman washing clothes in the bay—what carries the dust is the wind.

CREDITS

Screenplay | Chi Jang Yin and Elizabeth Feiertag

Produced, director, edited, video effects, main cast | CHI JANG YIN

Cinematographer | Ross Heran

Sound editor and mixer | Lou Mallozzi

For a preview or screening copy, please send an inquiry to the director, Chi Jang Yin.

A film by Chi Jang Yin

Super 8 film, experimental film, 2010, 3 min (slient)

DISTRIBUTION

Video Data Bank, Chicago

Exhibition:

The Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art (Manchester), UK

Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, Nottingham Contemporary. UK

Turner Contemporary (Margate) an artist film series from HOME (Manchester) and a symposium hosted by Tate Research Centre: Asia (London), UK

REVIEW

“The commonplace becomes magical, shadows adopt architectural form, sunlight refracts through glassware and spilt fluid.”–Bren O’Callaghan

SYNOPSIS

Sponsored by Kodak and Chicago Filmmakers, I was  one of the filmmakers commissioned to make a piece specifically for this Super-8 film show. Each filmmaker was given a film roll to shoot. All editing was done in-camera and no one was allowed to see the films prior to the screening.

A film by Chi Jang Yin

Experimental Documentary, 16 min, 2010, HD

DISTRIBUTION

Video Data Bank, Chicago

Winner of Best Film on Experimental Video Architecture, Fiaticorti Film Festival, Italy

Winner of Distinction Prize Award, the Lazniz Centre for Contemporary Art, Poland

World Premiere

Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival (IDFA), The Netherlands

Selected Screenings

Toronto International Film Festival, Bell Lightbox Program, Canada

European Media Arts Festival, Osnabrouck, Germany

Rome Independent Film Festival (RIFF), Italy

REVIEWS

“Lighthouse captures reality without comment and leaves the questions and answers to us.” – Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival (IDFA), The Netherlands

“Director Chi-Jang Yin is showing unusual picture of working people in China. This experimental assembly linked with different stories shrouded in mystery. The film reveals the natural human being what reflects the specific nature of the work.” – Poland Gdansk DocFilm Festival, Tri-City Theater, (April 23-25), Gdansk, Poland, 2010

“Very little of the sound you hear corresponds temporally to what you see; people are seen and not heard, heard and not seen. Ambient noise is suggestive of the onscreen image, but never clearly the same. This near-total absence of speaking faces and unmodified footage has two notable effects. The first is that the viewer is in communication primarily with the filmmaker, never straying too far after an illusion of narrative. LIGHTHOUSE steals intimate moments from unsuspecting men and women from a security camera's distance.” – Cine List, Guide to Experimental/Avant-garde Cinema

SYNOPSIS

“Lighthouse” is about the labor system and factory towns in Southern China and how individualism is influenced by the social and political infrastructure. Guangdong District is the largest Metropolitan area in one of China's wealthiest provinces and one of its cities, Guangzhou, attracts farmers from the countryside looking for factory work. The viewer is led to construct a narrative through the poetic and sublime juxtaposition of images, opening borders that separate cultural, linguistic, and historical differences in the context of global labor systems.

CREDITS

Cinematography, editing, and sound recording | CHI JANG YiN

Camera and sound recording assistant | ALEX THOMAS

Sound mixing, Experimental Sound Studio | LOU MALLOZZI

A film by Chi Jang Yin

Experimental Video, 2010, 6 min

DISTRIBUTIONS

Video Data Bank, Chicago

Videotage, Hong Kong

Premiere

DePaul Art Museum, Chicago

EXHIBITIONS

Both Sides Now 3 (Presented by videoclub and Videotage), United Kingdom

Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, England

Phoenix Cinema and Arts Centre, United Kingdom

SYNOPSIS

Fifty years after the Cultural Revolution, two elderly Chinese women sing the propaganda songs they learned at the re-education camps. Their reflections on lost youth are a web of nostalgia and regret that is woven as they walk along the banks of a Chinese village river.

CREDITS

Cinematography, editing, and sound recording/mixing | CHI JANG YIN

A film by Chi Jang Yin

Experimental Documentary, 9 min, 2006

DISTRIBUTION

Video Data Bank, Chicago

Winner of Best Film on Architecture, Asolo Art Film Festival, Asolo city, Italy

Selected Exhibitions + Film Festivals

Chicago Architecture in Motion, Chicago Filmmakers

Slag Glass City and the State of Art in Chicago, moderated and curated by Barrie Jean Borich, DePaul Art Museum

The American Architect in Focus, Block Museum of Art, Northwestern University

Karachi International Film Festival, Pakistan (Documentaries Series)

New Short Films by Chi Jang Yin, DePaul Art Museum

REVIEWS

“Chi-Jang Yin's Glass House (2005) uses various techniques to bring the architecture to life; for example, shadowy see-through figures underscore the way light undercuts the solidity of the interior it fills.”– Fred Camper

SYNOPSIS

“Glass House” examines the creative process of a modern architect building a home made from glass and concrete for his family. This video sees through the lens, and becomes a site of interpretation, reflection, and family dynamics explored from complex, multi-faceted perspectives.

CREDITS

Director, sound design, editor and cinematographer | Chi Jang Yin

Producer | Thomas Roszak

Construction and home video footages | Thomas Roszak and Justyna Roszak

Cinematography assistant | Ross Heran, Alex Tomaras

Lighting assistant and timelapse technician | Ross Heran

Post-production assistant | Jordan Abraham

Musical composition Jason Roebke

Electric Guitar | Fred Lonberg-Holm

Bass | Jason Roebke

Cello | Ben Vida

A film by Chi Jang Yin

Experimental Video, 12 min, 2008

DISTRIBUTION

Video Data Bank, Chicago

World Premiere

Los Angeles Film Festival (LAFF), Los Angeles

Selected Screenings

Athen International Film and Video Festival, OH

Asian Art Biennial, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan

SYNOPSIS

What happens when memory collapses into an unknown landscape? Upside-down train tracks merge and blur the distinction between reality and imagination. 

REVIEW

"No story is so personal that it's untouched by the political and economic environment in which it takes place. The conversation in FOR THE UNSEEN ends with a crash exchange that adds a painful layer to a complicated interaction." – written by Josephine Ferorelli, Cine-File “Crucial Viewing"

CREDITS

Cinematography, editing, and sound recording/mixing | CHI JANG YIN

A film by Chi Jang Yin

Experimental Video, 4 min, 2005

DISTRIBUTION

Video Data Bank, Chicago

World Premiere

The Center of Contemporary Art in Bulgaria

Selected Screenings

TRUNK – the Nordic Video Festival, the Consulate of Art at the County Council of Jamtland, Sweden

Experimental Video Festival, New Mexico

SYNOPSIS

“Icon” examines tensions and themes at the intersection of global brands, the internet, and the realities of the global marketplace. Three Chinese construction workers deconstruct an old house while brand names and URLs scroll across the screen. The viewer is asked to place their knowledge of the internet and global brands against their perception of the lived experience of the manual laborers.

CREDITS

Camera, written and edited | CHI JANG YIN

A film by Chi Jang Yin

Experimental Video, 7 minute, DV, 2003

DISTRIBUTION

Video Data Bank, Chicago

Winner of Second Grand Prize Award, Athens International Film and Video Festival, OH

Selected Screenings

Kasseler Dokumentarfilm and Videofest

Brooklyn Arts Council Film and Video Festival

SYNOPSIS

This performative video addresses a conflict of spectatorship and the dialectical relationship between memory, interpretation and reality. A young woman sits in front of the camera. Her face is dramatically obscured by make-up and a synthetic wig. She describes a strange experience she had with her husband in a theater. The subject demonstrates an inability to resolve  memory and personal identity through language and logic. The juxtaposition of life videos is taken from three different perspectives. Memory, the present, and fantasy are unexpectedly synched and un-synched. There is an affair. Or is there? There is an actress. Or is there? This scenario dramatically raises the question of the realities through an experiment in narrative, performance and video.

CREDITS

Directed, produced, and edited | CHI JANG YIN

Cinematography | TETUSYA HIROSHIMA

For a previewed or screening copy, please send an inquiry to the director.

A film by Chi Jang Yin

Experimental Documentary, 25 min, DV, 2001

DISTRIBUTION

Video Data Bank, Chicago

Best of Film Festival, Thaw International Film and Digital Media Festival, Iowa City

Best Documentary Short, Georgetown Independent Film Festival, Washington DC

Finalist Award for Media Arts, Chicago, Illinois Arts Council

Finalist Award, Asian American Film and Video Showcase, Chicago

REVIEWS

“A moving autobiographical meditation that uses fragments—voice-over, printed titles, phone messages, and old photographs, some with her father's image cut out—to tell the story of a family fractured by domestic violence and the forces of history and to explore the ambiguous feelings between mother and daughter. Footage from the Cultural Revolution, including shots of kids humiliating an old man, forms an eerie parallel to the daughter's alienation.”

–Fred Camper

“ANOTHER CLAPPING has two acts of obscured violence at its heart: Yin intersperses her own uncertain account of the abuse that her mother faced, which led to her parent's divorce, with a stunning, repeated archival image of a man striking something unknown with the blade of a shovel. Propaganda from the cultural revolution, a pre-revolution musical recording, and beautifully prosaic footage of the filmmaker's mother surround this beating heart and alter its rhythm. The second effect is the quieter but ever-present question of anonymity, both political and personal.”

–Cine List, Guide to Experimental/Avant-garde Cinema

SYNOPSIS

The experience as immigrants in Canada provides the family with the complexity of revealing and remembering the past. It is about the intimate and sublime relationship between the mother and daughter and the struggle between the actual history and the collective memory of The Chinese Cultural Revolution and public trauma.

CREDITS

Cinematography, editing, and sound recording/mixing | CHI JANG YIN

Influenced by the Bauhaus, Helmut Bartsch designed the music school at Depaul University in 1963. Of significant interest to historians and preservationists of modern architecture, it was nevertheless demolished in 2016. This photographic suite documents the now lost site and architecture through the longing for abstraction, clean lines, basic shapes, and forms.

Medium & size: digital photography, 35X48 inches each

Featured at Lens Culture: Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Any unauthorized copying of the work will be subject to legal consequences.

Shot over three years in China (2009-2011), this photography project portrays migrant workers in Guangdong, China, and investigates the performative gesture of body language in the setting of collective gatherings.

Medium & size: digital photography, 35X48 inches each

Exhibited and collected by DePaul Art Museum

Any unauthorized copying of the work will be subject to legal consequences.