The Art of the Dissensual

Abstract

I situate ‘independent border-crossing cinema’ at the conjuncture of inter-Asia culture and media productions and the new waves of independent film movements across Asia since the late 1980s/early 1990s. Building upon the concept of translocality, and engaging with Françoise Lionnet and Shu-mei Shih’s framing of ‘minor transnationalism’ in tandem with other discussions on cinematic transnationalism, I have developed a theoretical framework to examine the dissensual potentiality of border-crossing filmmaking, particularly from the perspective of authorship. Japanese film collective Nihon Documentarist Union and their 1973 documentary Asia is One are examined to illustrate how an inter-Asia independent border-crossing cinema can be realigned historically. I have also paid attention to the politics of the international film festival network.