SIAS hosts screening of Finding Kukan
Posted:2019-05-07
On May 6, 2019, SIAS jointly held a screening of and a roundtable discussion on Finding Kukan, together with the Public Affairs Section of the US Consulate General in Shanghai.
Kukan, a landmark color documentary of WWⅡ China and a collaboration by Chinese-American Li Ling-ai and American cameraman Rey Scott, fostered the understanding by the American people of the Chinese People’s war of resistance against Japanese aggression and America’s assistance to the Chinese people. But for decades it was considered a lost film with no copy known to exist, until Chinese-American film maker Robin Lung discovered a film print of Kukan after eight years of research. Lung recorded her uncovering of Kukan in the documentary Finding Kukan.
In the meeting, Robin Lung, producer and director of Finding Kukan, shared some interesting behind-the-scenes stories and the efforts she had put into the film. David Henry, adjunct professor at the Intercultural Institute of Shanghai International Studies University, Phillip Jarrell, artist and musician and Wang Chengzhi, PhD from the Institute of International Relations at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (SASS) talked about the history of Chinese-Americans, China-US cooperation during WWⅡ and people-to-people exchanges, among other topics.