IFChina was founded in 2008 by Chinese independent filmmaker, artist, and writer Jian Yi, along with Douglas Xiao and Eva Song.
Jian Yi co-founded the China Village Documentary Project with filmmaker Wu Wenguang in 2004, which led him to develop IFChina.
[1] RealTime magazine reported that IFChina is China’s first non-profit art and cultural organization that collects and documents the stories of ordinary Chinese.
[2] Much of IFChina's work focuses on the self-governance of China’s rural communities and the social and demographic changes occurring due to urban migration, specifically for children and the elderly who have been described as left behind.
Emphasis is placed on offering perspectives of the villagers and documenting their daily lives through independent documentary film and theater with the aim to preserve individual and communal memories.