ARU to host Cambridge Sinophone Film Week
Festival focuses on representation of women on screen and behind the camera
A free film festival is taking place at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) focusing on how East Asian women are represented both on screen and behind the camera.
The Cambridge Sinophone Film Week begins on Friday, 17 June (1pm) with a special screening of Against the War, In the Name of Cinema, a collection of 12 short films all produced following the outbreak of war in Ukraine.
Bringing together filmmakers from China, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam, 10 of the 12 films in Against the War, In the Name of Cinema are by female directors. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with some of the filmmakers.
The other films on show at ARU’s Cambridge campus are Buddha Mountain (17 June, 3.20pm), Mama (18 June, 1pm), The Choice (19 June, 1pm) and The Old Town Girls (19 June, 3.15pm). Both Mama and The Choice will be followed by Q&As with their respective directors, Li Dongmei and Gu Xue.
The event concludes with screenings of Girls Always Happy (25 June, 2pm) and Spring Tide (26 June, 2pm), both at King’s College London on the Strand.
The Cambridge Sinophone Film Week is organised by Dr Lisa Lin of ARU. Dr Lin is an expert in Chinese media and the author of Convergent Chinese Television Industries, which will be published this year by Palgrave Macmillan.
Dr Lin, a Research Fellow within ARU’s StoryLab research institute, has worked as a documentary producer for over a decade, and her credits include films for National Geographic, Channel News Asia, and Channel 4 News.
Dr Lin, pictured above, said:
“Film is a vital way of representing and shaping public perceptions of cultures and specific communities, and the 2022 Cambridge Sinophone Film Week will explore the representation of East Asian women both on and off screen.
“Asian women filmmakers have been working hard to overcome obstacles and counter stereotypes, and through public screenings and conversations with directors, the festival will bring some rarely-heard voices and perspectives to UK audiences.”
Dr Lin will be chairing the Q&A with documentary director GU Xue on 19 June after the film screening of The Choice at ARU.
All film screenings will have English subtitles and the Q&As with the directors, which will also be available to watch online, will be translated into English.
For further information and to book free tickets, visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/representing-east-asian-women-on-and-behind-the-screen-sinophone-film-week-tickets-351872037737