August Guangzhou Gathering: Inside Observational Documentary with Lemphek
CCC returns to The A Frame for its August Guangzhou gathering, featuring a behind-the-scenes conversation with documentary director-DP Lemphek 彭泽凯.
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Our August Guangzhou gathering returns to The A Frame, with Australian documentary director-DP Lemphek 彭泽凯 joining us for a look inside the strange, unpredictable and occasionally chaotic world of long-form observational documentary filmmaking.
The gathering starts at 6:00 PM. Come meet filmmakers, actors, producers, writers, photographers, editors, sound people and other creatives working around Guangzhou. Grab a drink, catch up, talk about what you’re making and get to know the people making work around you.
Friday, August 28, 2026 · Starts at 6:00 PM · The A Frame, Room 403, Guangzhou
Inside Observational Documentary
During the evening, Lemphek will take the stage for a 25 to 30 minute behind-the-scenes conversation, followed by questions and conversation with the room.
He’ll open up the reality of making a difficult long-form observational documentary. Not the tidy version you tell once the film is finished. The years of footage, unpredictable access, shifting stories and moments that no production plan could have called.
Part filmmaker conversation, part production post-mortem, part “how the hell did you get yourself into this situation?”
How do you decide what’s actually worth filming? How do you follow a story for years without drowning in footage? Lemphek will talk through his workflow for long-term documentary projects, managing enormous amounts of material and staying sane while following the same people and story over time.
He’ll also get into filming inside unpredictable environments, including private or sensitive spaces, intense and sometimes violent situations, and encounters with police. The question is always the same: how do you stay out of unnecessary trouble while still getting the story?
Then there are the stories that nobody could have planned. The strange turns, production surprises and unusual encounters that happen when reality becomes more complicated than the documentary you thought you were making.
Bring questions. There will be an audience Q&A afterward.
Three Days of Marriage. Several Years of Documentary.
Lemphek’s latest documentary is currently working under the title Trainspotting 3.
The film follows two young anarchist micro-celebrities from Wuhan and the extraordinary story surrounding their highly publicised flash wedding and subsequent divorce only three days later.
Following that story has taken Lemphek through years of observational filmmaking and into situations involving police, private spaces, volatile environments and the kind of circumstances a documentary filmmaker can’t exactly put on a call sheet.
At the gathering, he’ll share what happened behind the camera, how the project kept changing and what it takes to keep filming when reality refuses to follow the treatment.
About Lemphek 彭泽凯
Lemphek is an Australian documentary director-DP based in Guangzhou. His work focuses on youth subcultures and fringe groups across China.
His latest documentary, currently working under the title Trainspotting 3, follows two young anarchist micro-celebrities from Wuhan and the remarkable story surrounding their high-profile flash wedding and divorce three days later.
At this month’s gathering, Lemphek will talk about filming in intense and often unpredictable environments, dealing with police, managing a long-term observational documentary project and some of the stranger stories that developed along the way.
How the Evening Runs
6:00 PM — The gathering begins. Arrive, grab a drink, meet people and catch up.
During the evening — Lemphek’s 25 to 30 minute behind-the-scenes conversation.
After the conversation — Audience Q&A, then the gathering continues.
Event Details
- Date: Friday, August 28, 2026
- Time: Starts at 6:00 PM
- Venue: The A Frame, Room 403
- Location: 广州中航环保科技有限公司
- Address: 广东省广州市番禺区钟村街道钟村街钟二村金山湖大街10号
Finding The A Frame
Use this route guide once you reach the building. The studio is in room 403 on the fourth floor.
Come Meet the Guangzhou Filmmaking Community
Whether you direct, shoot, produce, edit, record sound, perform, write, photograph or are still figuring out where you fit, come down and introduce yourself.
Talk shop. Find out what people are making. Meet someone you might end up working with on the next one.
Lemphek’s conversation is part of the evening.
The gathering is the point.
CCC is an English-speaking filmmaking community. The gathering and featured conversation will be conducted primarily in English.
See you in room 403.