This panel will discuss both Taiwanese and mainland Chinese video art works and documentaries, along with recent historical developments. It will also examine how artists and directors analyze the ways in which the impersonation of different identities and the pursuit of individual empowerment has an impact on generating awareness of cultural and social changes. Michigan State Professor Tze-lan Sang and U-M scholar Fang Zhang will examine how gender, masculinity and femininity, and selfhood are embodied and performed in the works by Taiwanese documentary makers and mainland video artists respectively. Film critic Wood Lin will give historical backgrounds for the social and economic impetus that has influenced the rise of documentary art films in Taiwan and mainland China. These presentations will each be followed by a cross talk featuring Anne Rebull in conversation with Fang Zhang and Guo Zhen, Zheng Wang in conversation with Tze-lan Sang, and U-M Professor Markus Nornes in conversation with Wood Lin and Akiyama Tamako.