Négocier les identités ethniques dans « Le Projet sur le cinéma non-han » : le cas du micro-film de Yang Rui sur les Wa du Yunnan

Abstract

This article examines the "Non-Han cinema Project" launched in 2013 by the State Commission of Minzu Affairs. The aim of this article is to understand how filmmakers involved in the project are able to carve out a space for expressing an autonomous vision of Non-Han societies in contemporary China despite political and economic constraints. This paper first looks into the Non-Han Film Project in detail to assess the multiple challenges and various stakeholders involved in the Project that complicate the centralisation of Non-Han cinema. The paper then discusses female director Yang Rui's short film on the Wa of Yunnan, produced in cooperation with the Head of the Project. The analysis shows that the short film, though fulfilling some commercial and political purposes, implicitly challenges orthodox official representations of Non-Han culture and resists the attempts of the Chinese state to turn the Wa culture into Chinese national symbols.