About the Thesis

This documentary was made as partial fulfillment of the Masters course "Communication for Development" at Malmö University. It was supplemented by a written thesis that amongst other things describes the process of making a documentary in China.

Title:
Cultural Identity in Urban Beijing
Cycle of Change
Life and Development in Beijing

Author & Copyright:
Enno Ladwig

Year:
2006

Course, University & Examiner:
'Communication for Development 04',
K3, Malmö University, Sweden
Rikke Andreassen

Contents:

1. Introduction p. 4

2. The objectives of my project work p. 6
The project work and its relevance to Communication Theories p. 7
The documentary - Why? p. 9
The audience - Whom this is for p. 9

3. Methodology p. 11
The importance of a research trip p. 11
Qualitative research p. 12
The interviews p. 13
Sampling p. 15
Conducting research for a documentary film p. 16
Participant observation p. 16
My relation to the research topic and the role as a researcher p. 17

4. Background 1 p. 18
Chinas and Beijing‘s history p. 18
Social changes in China p. 20

5. Background 2 p. 24
Documentaries and other productions in China p. 24
Documentaries and other productions on China p. 26
The challenges of my project on China p. 27

6. The field work p. 29
The process of the interviews p. 29
Challenges to the Chinese cultural identity p. 33
Censorship and the peoples will and way to talk p. 35
After returning home p. 38

7. Conclusion, Review & Outlook p. 39

8. Bibliography p. 42

9. Annex p. 43
List of interviewees p. 43
List of interview questions p. 44
Documentary Production: Technical Equipment and Project Budget p. 44
Local supervisor p. 45
Acknowledgements p. 45

The 'Communication for Development' course

The Communication for Development master course at Malmö University was launched in the year 2000. It is a pioneer project, breaking new ground regarding not only content but also form of study - distance learning on the Internet, with an emphasis on group interaction and peers’ collaboration, embracing the web’s potential for shrinking costs, broadening reach and eradicating distance.

Some 60 students from all over the world have so far graduated, after having done their field work projects in more than 20 countries, from Peru to Indonesia and from South Africa to Sweden. (source: Communication for Development website)

For more information about this great course, follow this link.