Screening and Post-Screening Discussion: Better Angels

Please join the USC U.S.-China Institute for the screening of Better Angels (善良的天使), a documentary film written and directed by two-time Academy Award winner Malcolm Clarke. Post-screening discussion will be with Clarke, co-executive producer David Dreier, and producers William Mundell and Han Yi. 

Better Angels is a theatrical documentary film written and directed by two-time Academy Award winner Malcolm Clarke, produced by William Mundell and Han Yi, and executive produced by David Dreier. Produced over three years, shot on four continents and made with the participation of three US Secretaries of State, Better Angels features compelling encounters with some of the world’s most iconic thought leaders in the arena of Sino-US relations: Henry Kissinger, James Baker, Madeleine Albright and Kevin Rudd; and from China, C.H. Tung, Cheng Siwei, Ronnie C. Chan and General Qiao Liang — all of whose observations frame intimate portraits of educators and entrepreneurs, farmers and factory workers, movie moguls and small town mayors; all of them reaching out across the physical and metaphorical distances that separate two countries and cultures, each one learning more about their counterparts, colleagues and competitors from that other country — half a world away.

Better Angels Trailer from ARTeFACT on Vimeo.

Malcolm Clarke began his career at the BBC and subsequently joined Granada TV's “World in Action” series, assigned to investigate the death of South African political activist Steven Biko. This resulted in “The Life and Death of Steve Biko”. After winning the Monte Carlo Film Festival, Mr. Clarke produced and directed for ABC’s “Close-Up” Documentary Unit. During his career, he has been awarded with sixteen Emmys, two Oscars, and three Ace Awards, including “The Lady in Number Six”, which won an Academy Award for Best Short Subject Documentary.

Elected as one of the youngest members of the United States Congress (1981-2013), David Dreier worked with eight presidents of both political parties to address the challenges of the Sino/US relationship. A leader in the annual MFN debate and China’s accession to the WTO, in a Wall Street Journal oped in 2013 he became the first to advocate China’s entry into the Trans Pacific Partnership. 

William Mundell is an entrepreneur, film producer, and political activist. He was an adjunct professor at UCLA’s Anderson Graduate School of Management, and is an honorary professor at Tsinghua University in China.In 2005, Mr. Mundell formed Californians For Fair Redistricting to advance fair redistricting reform. In 2010, he was the executive producer of Gerrymandering, a national documentary which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, and focuses on the use of gerrymandering to fix elections and protect incumbents. It was widely credited with creating sweeping political reform in California.

Han Yi is a mlultiple award-winning film producer, specializing in international co-production, strategic marketing and the distribution of China-related independent films. Prior to focusing on the film business, Yi Han was an anchor and news reporter for Sichuan TV & China Central Television. She holds a Masters Degree in Journalism from Carleton University, Canada. Her work as a producer includes the internationally acclaimed Last Train Home, China Heavyweight, and Heart of A Tiger. In the summer of 2018 she completed work on her directorial debut film In My Eyes - the only Chinese documentary in Official Selection at the 2018 Shanghai International Film Festival.