As part of China Week 2024, King’s College London’s Lau China Institute and The Garden Cinema’s Chinese Cinema Project present the screening of I Wish I Knew, followed by a panel discussion.

From the acclaimed 6th Generation Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhangke, I Wish I Knew is a vivid portrait of the fast-changing metropolis and port city of Shanghai. A century-long history of this legendary city is revealed via interviews with eighteen real life characters who have complex personal relationships with the city’s rich cultural legacy. Those interview subjects include filmmaker Hou Hsiao-Hsien, painter Danqing Chen, writer Han Han, and actress Rebecca Pan, many of whom immigrated from the mainland to Hong Kong and Taiwan due to political upheaval.

I Wish I Knew also features a performance from Jia Zhangke’s long-time collaborator and muse Zhao Tao, in the backdrop of 2010 Shanghai World Expo.

Chris Berry is Professor of Film Studies at King’s College London, and Co-Investigator of the AHRC-funded Chinese Independent Film Archive project with Professor Sabrina Yu, University of Newcastle. He is also co-editor of The New Chinese Documentary Film Movement: For the Public Record, as well as various other works on aspects of Sinitic-language cinema.

Giulia D’Aquila is a PhD candidate in Chinese Studies at the Lau China Institute. Her current research focuses on the role that UK-China film co-production plays in the bilateral relation between the UK and China.

Yanran Yao is a political scientist specializing in Chinese politics, civil society, and globalization. Before joining the Lau China Institute as a fixed-term lecturer, she has been teaching at the University of Hong Kong as a lecturer. She has extensive publications on journals including the Contemporary Journal of China. Her current research interests include Chinese diaspora community organizations and their roles in China’s overseas operations.

China Week is a week-long series of events designed to help contribute to an informed understanding of China's growing global influence through research and public engagement.

The Chinese Cinema Project is an exhibition initiative showcasing works from emerging and under-represented Chinese filmmakers via regular screenings, exploring auteurship and cinematic beauty in its various forms.

Cast:
Zhao Tao, Han Han, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Michelangelo Antonioni