Date: June 11, 2025 (Wednesday), 1:00 PM – 3:30 PM
Venue: Chinese Independent Film Archive (CIFA), Old Library Building 2.23, Newcastle University
Research seminar and post-screening discussion Zoom link: https://newcastleuniversity.zoom.us/j/6235842876?omn=84694325773
This screening and research seminar focuses on the creative practice of Wen Hui, one of the most influential figures at the intersection of contemporary Chinese dance, theatre, and documentary film. While widely recognised as a pioneering choreographer and performance artist, Wen Hui has also developed documentary practice. Her films explore body, intergenerational memory, performativity, and intimacy through her intimate-public camera that combines testimony, movement, and personal history.
This seminar will screen two of her key works—Listening to Third Grandmother’s Story (2011, 75min) and Dance with Third Grandmother (2015, 15min)—which exemplify her use of body, dance and documentary as intertwined forms of archival recovery, intimate intergenerational connection and embodied resistance. The screenings will be followed by an in-depth discussion involving the filmmaker (joining remotely) and a group of CIFA’s visiting scholars whose research focus on documentary filmmaking or women filmmakers.
1:00 – 2:30 pm Screenings
Listening to Third Grandmother’s Stories (2011, 75 min)
Dance with Third Grandmother (2015, 15 min)
2:30 – 3:30 pm Research Seminar & Post-Screening Discussion
Topics include but not limited:
– Performing memory and intergenerational communication
– The politics of intimacy and the everyday practice
– Dance and documentary as feminist intervention
– The body as a site of resistance and narration
Panelists:
Wen Hui (filmmaker, dance artist; online participation)
Yolie Xinran Liu (Chair, City University of Hong Kong)
Mirror Yijingzi Huang (Chair, Monash University)
Prof. Tamako Akiyama (Guest panelist, Kanagawa University)
Prof. Markus Nornes (Guest panelist, University of Michigan)