A Lens on YunFest

I arrived at a motel in Dali, Yunnan with plans to participate in "YunFest," a film festival run by the BAMA Mountain Culture Research Institute. The festival is easily one of the most important in documentary screening events in China, although, for some reason, "YunFest" was not able to complete its screening program this year.

This year marked the 10 anniversary of the festival. Supported by a number of institutions including the Li Xianting Film Foundation and the China Independent Film Archives, the event has been staged five times. The privately-organized festival has seen its ups and downs in the past, including a 2007 cancellation. But its short history has been a largely illustrious one, and one that must be credited to the hard work of talented documentary professionals throughout the country. In 2005, a free screening staged by the festival's organizers in downtown Kunming drew such a large crowd of people that it seemed the whole city had a chance to view the film.