In the place where we left and arrived
England / 2022 / 20m / English & Mandarin
In-Person: Tue 27 June / 20:15 BST
Online: 23 - 29 June
The contradictions of home and belonging underlie this autobiographical and documentary-style exploration of the queer Chinese diaspora.
For filmmaker Samuel Zhang, Shanghai represents one end of a long term relationship and a past home, but only in the sense of fading memories. In the place where we left and arrived (2022) shows a personal journey, presented through words and the use of digital mappings, as Zhang attempts to understand the possible definitions of home, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Chinese lives, and the reality of being queer in and away from China. Offering a look at the wider context of these important issues, the film gathers shared experiences of other queer Chinese people living in the UK. We see how queer identities intertwined with diaspora are bound up by rejection from the home country and the struggle of ethnocultural transformation. In this way, the reality for people who are marginalised, either culturally, geographically, or socially, is always a state of exile.
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Created by Samuel Zhang
News footage:
Aljazeera - 'I don't feel safe': Asians in the UK reflect on a year of hatred"
CFR - "'Runology': how to 'run away' from China"
ITV News - "26 million people confined to homes in Shanghai as Covid lockdown extended"
Media History - "Origins: The Yellow Peril"
South China Moring Post - "China faces zero-Covid lockdown brain drain with visa inquiry spike"
The Guardian - "This article is more than 5 years old No Asians, no black people."
The Washington post - "Zero-Covid has many in China dreaming of leaving"
VICE - "This Is What Anti-Asian Hate Looks Like in the UK"
新闻综合 -"1980年代出国潮
Footage and photographs shot in Shanghai during COVID-pandemic are credited to Elaine
Archive footage:
Anti-Chinese Riot in Denver anagoria (1880)
A Rake's Progress (1763)
Chinese Dragon Parade (1958)
Chung Kuo: Cina (1972)
Hypocrites (1915)
Top 20 Immigration Destinations For Chinese People (2021)
Soundtrack:
Ambient 507050 - Steve Combs
Away - Meydän
Bodhi Ambient - Daniel Birch
Creepy Eerie Spooky Music - Fesliyan Studios
橄欖樹-齊豫 and 李泰祥
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Captions by Sarya Wu
British Sign Language by Grace Buckle
BSL Editing by Tao-Anas Le Thanh
Audio Descriptions provided by the International Digital Centre
Listen to…
Filmmaker Samuel Zhang talk about In the place where we left and arrived in our Audio Programme, Before the Applause - available wherever you get your podcasts.
Read Response
Home is the Horizon
A Response to In the place where we left and arrived, written by Hayley Wu (胡禧怡)
