Film Technology in Socialist Chinese Cinema

This book examines the history of film technology in Maoist China from the foundation of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949 to the beginning of economic reform in 1979 from the perspective of technology transfer. Highlighting the trade exchange of technology equipment and scientific knowledge between China and the globe, this book explores the history of film technology in the socialist state, showing that the function of film technology under socialism is different from that of capitalist countries, which mainly use film technology to raise films' commercial appeal and to generate profit. Instead, the use of film technology became a key link in the Chinese film industry to promote socialist propaganda and pedagogy. In showing how the film industry in China became a state-led megamachine centralising the sustainable production and supply of filmmaking resources, this book will be a valuable resource for students and scholars of film studies, contemporary cinema, and Asian media and communication studies.

Zhaoyu Zhu is a teaching fellow in Communication and Cultural Studies at the University of Nottingham Ningbo, China. He received the Katherine Singer Kovacs Essay Award from the Society of Cinema and Media Studies in 2022. He writes widely about Chinese film history (particularly Chinese film technology), Chinese cinemas, and film festivals.

1 Introduction: Cinematic Megamachine and Film Technology Historiography 2 To Be Made-in-China: 35-mm Film Stocks in China 3 To Hit it Out: The Dye-Transfer Film Printing Process in China 4 To Show the Power: Widescreen Cinemas in China 5 To Form the Chinese Standard: 8.75-mm Projectors in China 6 Conclusion