Local Practice - National Memories: A Lecture by Evans Chan (film director)

Indiana University's East Asian Studies Center presents a talk by director Evans Chan on the trajectory of representation of Tiananmen 1989 on Chinese cinema.

The memory of the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, though twenty years old, is still officially repressed in China. By contrast, Hong Kong is distinguished by its massive annual candle light vigil–a political phenomenon reflected in its cinema–from 1989 onward, through the 1997 Sino-British handover of the former colony and beyond. More notably, the local independent scene has defined itself by keeping the memories of 1989 Tiananmen alive, not only for Hong Kong, but for China and the world. Evans Chan’s lecture retraces the trajectory of representation of Tiananmen ‘89 on Chinese cinema–from Zhang Yimou to John Woo–but with a focus on the Hong Kong independents.