Simple Production

The film CHINA, THE NEW EMPIRE presents, for the first time, a global picture of one century in the history of this country, from the Opium War until the forthcoming appointment of Xi Jinping as President of the People’s Republic.

In October 2012, a crucial transference of power, occurring only once a decade, will take place in China : the renewal of the Communist Party’s governing bodies, and the designation of the next President of the Republic. An unprecedented factor is that this post will be held by a man who was not selected by either Mao Zedong or Deng Xiaoping. Another problem is that, victim of its narcissistic tendency, the West is unable to perceive with the required acuity that one of the most important changes that the world has witnessed in four centuries is taking place: the transference of power’s centre of gravity from the Atlantic to the Pacific. In a space of 15 years China will climb from 6th economic position to 1st position worldwide, according to latest figures from the IMF and the World Bank, and by 2017 it will have surpassed the United States.

The film CHINA, THE NEW EMPIRE presents, for the first time, a global picture of one century in the history of this country, from the Opium War until the forthcoming appointment of Xi Jinping as President of the People’s Republic. This documentary is not simply : « An account of Western colonization or the Republican Presidency of Sun Yat Sen » ; « The civil war between Nationalists and Communists or the numerous Chinese alliances and misalliances with Russia or the United States » ; « The creation of Communism or the invasion of Tibet » ; « The Great Leap Forward or the Cultural Revolution » ; « Mao’s death or Deng Xiaoping’s putsch » ; « The reform policy or the bloody repression of June ‘89 » ; « Jiang Zemin’s market economy or China’s triumphant entry into the WTO » ; « The multiple tensions between China and the US regarding Taiwan or the handover of Hong Kong » ; « Hu Jintao’s Harmonious Society or the escalating fight against dissidents » ; « The growth of financial power or the economic conquest of Africa and South America » ; « The world’s factory or the planet’s largest future grey-matter laboratory » ; « Capitalism or socialist market economy… » It’s all this yet much more, because it puts into perspective past and current political events which have interacted in order to build tomorrow’s China. It also considers China’s philosophy, its views on religion, its culture and its outlook on the world, all this from the point of view of 100 Chinese citizens living and working in China : intellectuals, workers, peasants, researchers, economists, psychoanalysts, journalists, company managers, politicians, servicemen, but also artists : writers, visual artists or filmmakers… With the contribution of work from the finest sinologists and foreign press correspondants

A triptych that is intended as a reference film, for understanding present-day and future China more clearly and revealing the multiple facets of this atypical country, which will succeed, by itself, in transforming the future of the world, either willingly or by force. It will become, more resolutely than ever before, The Middle Kingdom.

Credits

• Duration : 3 x 52’ 
• Script : Jean-Michel Carré
• Director : Jean-Michel Carré
• Image : François Cauwel, Jean-Michel Carré & Christèle Jaime
• Music : Benoit Jarlan, Etienne Forget & Cui Jian
• Edior : Mary Stephen
• Mix : Pierre Gillet (Dame Blanche)

Production and Partners

• Production :Simple Production, Les Films Grain de Sable, Arte France, Hikari Films, CRRAV Nord-Pas de Calais, RTBF, Inicia Films
• Partners : Programme MEDIA de l’Union Européenne, La PROCIREP et l'ANGOA, Centre National du Cinéma et de l’image animée, le Centre du Cinéma et de l'Audiovisuel de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, RTS, NRK, SVT, TV3, ERR, LRT, TVN

Distribution

• Mercury media international

Dvd

• English version with English subtitles
• French version with French subtitles