Shifts in cultural policies in post-Mao China: Analysis of the sixth-generation films under XI Jinping's rule

This thesis will address the question of China's attitude toward independent films and filmmakers, known as the Sixth Generation, in the context of the great transformation of the country because of the reform policies of Deng Xiaoping in the 1980s. Sixth-generation filmmakers tried to hold a mirror to China's changing social landscape by focusing on deteriorating interpersonal and family relationships and the new marginal segments emerging in metropolitan cities. In doing so, they relied primarily on their own experiences. They created their own social influence by making the deteriorating social institutions in today's China the main subject of their films. Their relationship with the government and governmental institutions has always been inconsistent. This thesis will try to understand the changing relations between artists and the government and the shifts in cultural policies of the government by making a close reading of the films of the leading names of the Sixth Generation, Jia Zhangke and Wang Xiaoshuai, throughout three decades. The thesis claims that filmmakers have to negotiate with the relevant state institutions consistently to shoot their films, and the Chinese government, including Xi Jinping, never had an apparent political attitude and regulations regarding the organization of the cultural field; instead, it argues that filmmakers can release their films in China as a result of constant negotiations and bargaining with government institutions.