A document on the influence of crowdfunding on documentaries in China

Documentaries have a history of being the mouthpiece of the Chinese government; an important medium to present a good image of the country. The Party knows that at the same time a critical documentary can do harm. Nevertheless, especially economic reasons have made the government less rigid on documentary making—the times that the only documentaries in the country were pure Party propaganda is over. Internet has been another influence that weakened Party control. Crowdfunding gives the crowd the possibility to gather together, share ideas and financially support the creation of products. Although through crowdfunding of documentaries a different voice can be heard, the existence of these websites does of course not mean the disappearance of censorship. Therefore we cannot expect a big shift in the democratic potential of documentaries just because of the better possibilities for active audience participation through crowdfunding. Research on recent prohibited documentaries showed...Show moreDocumentaries have a history of being the mouthpiece of the Chinese government; an important medium to present a good image of the country. The Party knows that at the same time a critical documentary can do harm. Nevertheless, especially economic reasons have made the government less rigid on documentary making—the times that the only documentaries in the country were pure Party propaganda is over. Internet has been another influence that weakened Party control. Crowdfunding gives the crowd the possibility to gather together, share ideas and financially support the creation of products. Although through crowdfunding of documentaries a different voice can be heard, the existence of these websites does of course not mean the disappearance of censorship. Therefore we cannot expect a big shift in the democratic potential of documentaries just because of the better possibilities for active audience participation through crowdfunding. Research on recent prohibited documentaries showed most of the banned documentaries regard suppression by the government of citizen rights: the government wants to prevent an upsurge of social tensions. The fact that the documentaries of the case study that address social issues are allowed to be shown across the country backs this. Crowdfunding in China thus does offer more people the opportunity to voice their opinion through documentaries, also critical opinions, but it does not increase the democratic potential in Chinese documentary art.Show less

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A document on the influence of crowdfunding on documentaries in China