2nd IndieChina Film Festival to Open at HERE Arts Center

HERE Arts Center will host the 2026 IndieChina Film Festival, a unique platform dedicated to showcasing the world of Chinese independent cinema, at HERE Arts Center November 10-15. Tickets ($15 single tickets, $150 all-access festival pass, $100 10-pack, $60 5-pack) are available for advance purchase.

As China's mainstream film industry continues to grow in scale and influence, a parallel world of fiercely creative, often underrepresented voices has emerged - and it is these voices that the IndieChina Film Festival seeks to highlight. Founded with a mission to bridge cultures and foster dialogue through the art of film, the IndieChina Film Festival brings together filmmakers, cinephiles, scholars, and activists who share a passion for independent storytelling. This festival is not just a screening event; it is a space for ideas, resistance, memory, and identity. It honors the courage of Chinese independent filmmakers who work outside the studio system - often on shoestring budgets and under difficult conditions - to tell personal, political, and experimental stories that reflect the complexity of contemporary Chinese life.

From underground documentaries that explore social justice and marginalized communities, to avant-garde narratives and hybrid forms that blur the lines between fiction and reality, the IndieChina lineup pushes boundaries and challenges conventions. Each selected film reflects the filmmaker's commitment to authenticity, innovation, and often, social critique - offering global audiences a rare window into the hidden corners of Chinese society. IndieChina seeks to carve out a space for independent cinema in China, and now across Asia, where reality can be presented to a broad audience and where people have a safe place to talk and reflect.

Hosted in an inclusive, bilingual environment, the festival includes film screenings, panel discussions, filmmaker Q&As, and community workshops. It aims to foster exchange between Chinese filmmakers and international viewers, and to offer critical context that helps audiences engage with the political, historical, and aesthetic dimensions of the works presented. In a world where independent expression is increasingly under pressure, the IndieChina Film Festival stands as an act of cultural preservation and international solidarity. It is a place for connection - between generations of filmmakers, between diasporic communities, and between cultures separated by language but united by the power of visual storytelling. In an increasingly polarized world, where freedom of expression is under pressure, this film festival believes watching films together is both an artistic and a political act. It is a way to meet one another in our shared humanity, beyond geopolitical narratives.

Tuesday, November 10

5-6pm: Opening Reception
6pm: Swing My Swing High, My Darling (94 min) + Q&A
8:10pm: Shadow Days (95 min) + Q&A

Wednesday, November 11

12pm: Love Conquers All (92 min)
2pm: Taming the Fish (108 min) + Q&A
8:45pm: Chinese Documentaries of the Early 1990s Special Screening: Digital Restoration (92 min) + Q&A

Thursday, November 12

12pm: Chinese Early Documentaries #2
1:30pm: Special Screening: Reflecting on the Cultural Revolution, 60 Years On The Cemetery (124 minutes) + Q&A
8:45pm: The Arsonist (70 min) + Q&A

Friday, November 13

12pm: Chinese Documentaries of the Early 1990s - Special Screening: New Introduction (112 minutes total)
2:30pm: FREE Panel Discussion: 'Rupture and Reconciliation: Chinese Documentaries of the Early 1990s'
8:45pm: 404 Not Found (77 min) + Q&A

Saturday, November 14

12pm: Summer in Narita (108 min)
2:30pm: The Crack (102 min) + Q&A
8:45pm: EX-VOTO (85 min) + Q&A

Sunday, November 15