Wang Bing
Biography
Wang Bing (Chinese: 王兵; pinyin: Wáng Bīng; born 16 November, 1967; Xi'an) is a Chinese documentary director, often referred to as one of the foremost figures in documentary film-making. Wang is the founder of his own production company, Wang Bing Studios, which produces most of his films. He began his career as an independent filmmaker in 1999. Discovered in 2003, "West of Tracks", an enormous documentary work of more than 9 hours, has garnered great success internationally. In addition to his feature documentaries, he is also active in video installation, fiction film and photography. His movie on Chinese labour camps, "The Ditch", was included in the 67th Venice Film Festival (2010) as the film sorpresa. His movie "Youth (Spring)" was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 76th Cannes Film Festival (2023). Tie Xi Qu, Wang's 9 hour epic documentary of industrial China, was considered a major success. Tie Xi Qu went on to win the Grand Prix at the Marseille Festival of Documentary Film and was shown for the first time in Spain at the Punto de Vista International Documentary Film Festival. Wang's film Fengming, a Chinese Memoir, premiered at both Cannes and Toronto in 2007. Crude Oil premiered at the 2008 Rotterdam Film Festival. Since then, his films became a staple at every prestigious international film festival. 2017's Mrs. Fang was awarded the Golden Leopard at the 70th Locarno Festival. French philosopher Georges Didi-Huberman dedicated a long epilogue to Wang Bing in his 2012 book, Peuples exposés, peuples figurants. He reflects on the social fate of images thoroughly analyzing Wang's 2010 Man with No Name, writing that the director, as a humble portrait artist of a single rural worker, manages to represent the whole of China's people (as well as people from all over the World) "not through his past, nor his ideas, nor his name, nor his place in society, but through the simple gestures with which he works at his solitary life", as opposed to the common epic portraits of national identity based on military prowess, war heroes and manifest destinies.
Known For & Full Filmography6 Titles
Movie - 2014, 2h 15m • as Self
With Taiwan remaining in the grip of martial law in 1982, a group of filmmakers from that country set out to establish a cultural identity through cinema and to share it with the world. This engaging documentary looks at the movement's legacy.
Movie - 2018, 2h 15m • as Self
Korean film critic Jeong Sung-il’s camera explores the work of Wang Bing, a Chinese director who won international fame with his film Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks. Jeong’s attempt to pry into Wang’s filmmaking secrets leads to the question: “What is film?”
Movie - 2017, 2h 15m • as self
A portrait of the filmmaker and documenta 14 artist Wang Bing (winner of the Locarno Festival's Golden Leopard for "Mrs. Fang"). Wang Bing shot his previous films digitally, for example "15 Hours" which consists of a single 15-hour long shot. In Kassel, he bought his first Bolex (16 mm camera). With a stopwatch, he tests how long he film can film at a time.
Movie - 2009, 2h 15m • as Self
This correspondence between Spanish auteur Jaime Rosales and critical chronicler of contemporary China Wang Bing is divided into three short films each consisting of documentary observations.
Movie - 2018, 2h 15m • Main Cast Role
Sardinia 2017. The starting point for the film is one of the most loved lands in the Mediterranean, using it to enter into the world of cinema. Ten international masters of cinema explain Fiorenzo Serra's images, one of the greatest post-war Italian documentary makers. His masterpiece, "The last punch of Earth", will be analyzed and debated, a film which examined Italian change and European reflection.
Movie - 2019, 2h 15m • as Himself
Wang Bing is one of the greatest documentary-makers alive today, and his films offer a very insightful overview of the transformations occurring in Chinese society. Here, Dominique Auvray conducts an interview that, in addition to the biographical information, focuses above all on the relationship with things unsaid: Wang Bing attempts to do justice to his theme and the testimonies he’s gathered, but he stumbles over the words, struggling to keep his emotions in check. The pain of tackling history shows through the awkward speech.