***RSVP*** Matthew Niederhauser will present work spanning his past seven years in China, including his earliest photographic ventures, Visions of Modernity and Counterfeit Paradises, which delve into the intimate relationship between urban development and consumer habits in China’s fastest growing metropolises. These projects helped form the basis of his first documentary film, Kapital Creation, which he is shooting in collaboration with John Fitzgerald. Short selections from Kapital Creation will also be shown, followed by an open discussion with both Matthew and John regarding their examination of the largest infrastructure buildout in the history of mankind through the eyes of creatives caught within Beijing’s urban explosion.

Tuesday, October 21, 6pm-7:30pm
“Kapital Creation: Creativity and the Urban Chinese Dream”
Matthew Niederhauser, Filmmaker
John Fitzgerald, Director and Cinematographer
Columbia Global Centers | East Asia
Columbia Global Centers | East Asia | Free | Open To Public | RSVP
 
Matthew Niederhauser will present work spanning his past seven years in China, including his earliest photographic ventures, Visions of Modernity and Counterfeit Paradises, which delve into the intimate relationship between urban development and consumer habits in China’s fastest growing metropolises. These projects helped form the basis of his first documentary film, Kapital Creation, which he is shooting in collaboration with John Fitzgerald. Short selections from Kapital Creation will also be shown, followed by an open discussion with both Matthew and John regarding their examination of the largest infrastructure buildout in the history of mankind through the eyes of creatives caught within Beijing’s urban explosion.
 
Matthew Niederhauser’s interest in China emerged in high school with Mandarin courses and a deep fascination with the country’s expansive history and philosophical traditions. He then spent a gap year living with a host family in Beijing in 2000 before commencing his studies in the East Asian Languages and Cultures department at Columbia University. After graduating Matthew split time researching for the National Committee on US-China Relations and assistant teaching at the International Center of Photography before returning to China to commit himself to photojournalism and filmmaking. His work covering urban development and youth culture in China have since then appeared in The New Yorker, National Geographic, Wired, The New Republic, Foreign Policy, and Time Magazine amongst many others. Matthew also concentrates on independent projects investigating city planning, creative communities, and emerging consumer trends across the country. These are his main outlets for exploring the rapid socioeconomic changes that continue to occur in China.
 
John Fitzgerald is a director, cinematographer, and animator creating films, commercials, music videos, and video art installations. His films have screened at the Rio de Janeiro Film Festival, Berlinale Talents, Torino Film Festival, and Rotterdam International Film Festival. His multi-channel video installations were featured in the 2013 Panama Bienal, and he has created dynamic multi-channel video mapping installations for theatre performances and musicals in Brazil and the United States, such as Grey Gardens and Hedwig and the Angry Inch. His directoral work includes projects for The World Wildlife Fund, Coca Cola, The Discovery Channel, Tribeca Films, NOVA/PBS, Nowness, Red Bull, and Sony Records. John graduated from Brown University, Department of Modern Culture and Media, receiving an Honors Thesis, Resource Scholars/Artists Award. He is also the creative director for Primum, the lead production company of Rio, eu the amo (Rio, I Love You) a feature film forthcoming this year.
 
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