The saga of Beijing Independent Film Festival (BIFF)’s difficulties this year have received plenty of coverage. In a Time Out Beijing article published at the beginning of August 2013, artistic director of the Li Xianting Film Foundation Dong Bingfeng reported that after last year’s surprise and allegedly accidental power cut, the festival had installed its own generator.
On 23 August, news came that the festival had been quashed more decisively this year.
The next day, Time Out Beijing considered “the death of independent cinema” in China.
Meanwhile, Newcastle University student Lydia Wu wrote up a report at the request of the Li Xianting Film Fund, published by dGenerate films in New York on their blog, which announced the survival of BIFF, after all.