NOW BOOKING: Chinese Visual Festival presents THREE YEARS IN WUHAN + Intro/Q&A

To mark the Lunar New Year, Chinese Visual Festival presents an online screening of Peng Wenlan’s three-part doc + Zoom Intro/Q&A with the director (18 FEB 18:00 – FREE!).

By RADIANT CIRCUS // Twitter @radiantcircus | Instagram @radiantcircus

We would normally be listing the Chinese Visual Festival’s annual screenings at BFI Southbank to celebrate the Lunar New Year round about now. So, it’s great to see them online with a live event to mark this global occasion.

THREE YEARS IN WUHAN is a three-part documentary series charting the struggle of two small and medium size enterprises to keep afloat in Optics Valley, Wuhan’s new hi-tech zone. The two company heads could not be further apart in character or purpose. One, Xu Jishui, CEO of Fenjin Robotics, grew up during the turbulent years of the Cultural Revolution and remains a staunch patriot and idealist. The other, Huang Tiesen, a fresh graduate, sets up a software business with the sole purpose of becoming “rich and free”.

Made over the course of three years, the film observes how the two entrepreneurs tackle each problem and how they are personally tested along the way. The series was a collaborative effort between Beijing Sanduotang Media Co Ltd and director Peng Wenlan’s company, Sinoscope. It was first broadcast on the BBC’s global channel in May 2020.

Peng Wenlan is an independent documentary filmmaker based in London. She began her TV career at China Central Television, first presenting and producing educational programmes and, subsequently, launching the national broadcaster’s first ever current affairs series Focus – the precursor of its flagship programme Jiaodian Fangtan. Since returning to the UK, she has worked for the BBC and the independent sector and now runs her own company, specialising in documentary films on China.

Scroll down for details about how to get involved.

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