A welcome addition to scholarship on contemporary non-state Chinese filmmaking and its context both in China and globally. . . . This accessible book should appeal to a broad audience. Highly Recommended.

Choice Reviews

A useful collection, with a good balance of established and emerging academic talent amongst its authors. . . . The book offers a readable and stimulating set of thoughts on the meaning of independence in a post-Mao cinematic environment, on the continuities of style and narrational techniques across Chinese film history, and on the ways in which film articulates the delicate play between ideas of freedom and the realities of control in contemporary China.

The China Journal

Pickowicz and Zhang's volume is a timely publication, highly recommended not only for cinema classes but also for any discussion on the relationship between the state and the arts in contemporary China.

., China Quarterly

This excellent volume is a significant contribution to the existing film studies literature and has instantly become an important baseline study. It offers a variety of methodologies and perspectives in clear and accessible writing that persuasively challenge conventional wisdom. Although film books on China are becoming more common there are none available on this increasingly important subject. I will definitely use it in my classes.

Stanley Rosen, University of Southern California