How two documentary films hitting US are opening windows on modern China in the age of Trump
More Americans are about to learn about China as Miao Wang’s Maineland and Hao Wu’s People’s Republic of Desire are set to reach US cinemas within days of each other
More Americans are getting schooled on China as two feature-length documentaries by mainland Chinese directors in the United States make their debuts within a few days of each other.
Maineland by Miao Wang, about Chinese students attending a boarding school in a rural town in the US state of Maine, begins its theatrical release in New York City on March 16. People’s Republic of Desire by Hao Wu, recently screened as a world premiere at the annual South by Southwest festival of film, music and interactive media, reveals a dystopian present at the intersection of capitalism, social media and social alienation.
Hitting US screens as tension between Beijing and Washington reaches a boiling point, the films are well-timed.
US President Donald Trump made China-bashing part of his winning political campaign in 2016 and, after a brief period of good will and adulation of his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, Trump appears set to direct much of his current punitive trade actions against Beijing.
Meanwhile, there’s been a chorus of alarm raised by ranking US lawmakers from both political parties. Suspicion around China’s attempts to acquire US technology has pushed some of them to sponsor legislation that may put limits on visas for Chinese students, making Maineland particularly relevant.
The film puts a human face on the cohort of Chinese who will need to navigate this cross-cultural turbulence and face suspicion over whether they are part of what many US politicians are calling Beijing’s influence operations in the United States.
