This event consists of the screening of the 2021 film Bad Women of China and a post-screening Q&A with the queer feminist director Xiaopei He.
The focus of the event is on global queer feminist cultural politics. This event asks: what would a queer, feminist and postcolonial queer feminist politics look like, and how is it manifested on screen and in storytelling? Who are the 'unsung heroes' working behind the screen?
Organised by the University of Nottingham's Centre for Contemporary East Asian Cultural Studies as part of Nottingham's LGBT+ History Month, this event showcases the diversity of global queer culture; it also celebrates the work of queer women working in the screen industries worldwide who offer us a more diverse representation and richer understanding of and contemporary queer life.
Although the director’s Q&A will take place online, the event is an in-person event and is not open to an online audience. Booking is essential for participants from outside the Gender, Sexuality and Media class. Booking through Eventbrite.
About the Film:
Bad Women of China (中华坏女人dir. Xiaopei He, Chinese with English subtitle, 82 min.) documents the life experiences and desires of three generations of Chinese women in Xiaopei He’s family from the 1920s to the present day, across generations and continents.
Director’s Statement
I didn't grow up with my mum and we were estranged with each other. She didn't like talking to me. So I asked my daughter to interview her as I filmed their conversation with a digital video camera. My mother liked talking about her past, and my daughter enjoyed listening to the stories. The video camera became the medium that connected us. I had hoped to use the film to improve our relationship, although I didn't know at the time what to do with the footage.
During the COVID outbreak, I was stranded abroad when my mum passed away in Beijing. This left me with deep sorrow and regret. After returning to China, I began to examine the interview footage. The film shows how the three generations of women in my family have experienced political and social movements, broken gender, sexual and social norms, and given each other both trauma and love under the rapid social change in China in the course of a century.
About the Director:
Xiaopei He (何小培) is a leading queer feminist filmmaker, activist and director of Beijing-based Pink Space, a non-governmental organisation dedicated to promoting sexual rights and gender equality. She worked for fourteen years for the Chinese State Council where she was involved with healthcare reform, before resuming her studies and completing a MA in Sexual Dissidence at the University of Sussex and a PhD at the University of Westminster. Her films include The Lucky One (宠儿, 2012), Our Marriages: Lesbians Marry Gay Men (奇缘一生, 2013), Yvo and Chrissy (如此生活, 2017), Playmates (玩伴, 2019), and Bad Women of China (中华坏女人, 2021).