"Center And Margin"—Subjective Interpretation Of Chinese Independent Documentary Film

Chinese independent documentary film (CID) has been labeled "unofficial" or "underground" ever since its first appearance, which has thus sealed its marginal status from the mainstream perspective in China. In an era characterized by traditional values and notions, CID creators have tried their hardest to get familiar with the masses at the bottom of society and present the obscured side of society to the public at large in an equal and personalized manner.Imbued with the distinctive "independent spirit" and guided by the theories of "Direct Cinema" and "Cinema verite", independent creators have restored social reality to the original form in an objective and calm fashion. However, during creation, creations have more or less been left with subjective consciousness of the creators, which calls into question the "truth" in CID.Starting from CID, this paper has made an exploration of its status within the mainstream ideology, its morphological expression as a representative of marginal culture, and subjective involvement in the restoration of social reality, which has given rise to reflection on the subject of CID.