Film Screening:

Maineland
(Miao Wang, 2017, 90 min, China/USA, in Mandarin w/ English Subtitles and English, Color, Digital) 

-- introduced by Prof. Ralph Litzinger (Cultural Anthropology)!

Stella and Harry are affluent, cosmopolitan teenagers who are part of the enormous wave of "parachute students" from Mainland China enrolling in U.S. private schools. Shot over three years in China and the U.S., Maineland tells a multi-layered coming-of-age tale, following this buoyant, fun-loving girl and introspective boy as they settle into a boarding school in blue-collar small-town rural Maine. They come seeking a Western-style education, escape from the dreaded Chinese college entrance exam, and the promise of a Hollywood-style U.S. high school experience. As their fuzzy visions of the American dream slowly gain more clarity, they ruminate on their experiences of alienation, culture clash, and personal identity, sharing new understandings and poignant discourses on home and country.

-- Winner of 2017 Special Jury Prizes for ‘Best Documentary Feature’ at both the SXSW Film Festival and the Independent Film Festival of Boston!

MAINELAND Teaser. Directed by Miao Wang (Beijing Taxi). SXSW Special Jury Award 2017. from Cargo Film & Releasing on Vimeo.

Cost: Free and Open to the Public

Sponsors: The Asian/Pacific Studies Institute (APSI), the Program in the Arts of the Moving Image (AMI), and the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (AMES).

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