Expanding Home: East Asia Documentary Film Festival Network

"My motivation for this research stems from my personal experiences as a documentary filmmaker."

Cheung Tit-leung, a documentary filmmaker, independent film researcher, and curator. This book originated from Tit-leung's doctoral thesis, with research anchored in four documentary film festivals in East Asia:

Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival in Japan – Asia's first documentary film festival
China Documentary Film Festival in Beijing – the forefront of independent Chinese documentary film
Taiwan International Documentary Festival in Taiwan – a film festival integrating museology
Chinese Documentary Film Festival in Hong Kong – a documentary competition open to the global Chinese-speaking community

Unlike general large-scale film festivals, commercial negotiations and the buying and selling of screening rights are not the primary missions of these documentary film festivals. Through collaboration, establishing gathering points, organizing workshops and seminars, and centralizing activity locations, they invite more groups to join the film festival community, building an infrastructure that facilitates exchange, networking, and sharing. All efforts are directed towards the same goal – rooted locally, with a global outlook, committed to promoting regional documentary production and nurturing filmmakers.