In a change to the published programme, our next CCHH film screening will be In Love We Trust 左右 (2008), directed and scripted by Sixth Generation film maker Wang Xiaoshuai 王小帅.

Family drama In love we trust (aka Left Right) tells the story of a divorced couple who resolve to conceive a 'saviour sibling' for their daughter, who has been diagnosed with leukaemia. It won the Silver Bear for best screenplay at the 2008 Berlin Film Festival.

The screening will be followed by a conversation between distinguished Chinese bioethicist Professor Cong Yali (PKU) and philosopher and ethicist James Wilson (UCL) on the issues raised by the film.

Screening notes

Mei Zhu and Xiao Lu divorced after giving birth to a daughter, Hehe. Now they are both happily remarried: Zhu to a simple man who loves her tenderly and Lu to an air-hostess much younger than he is. Hehe has just been diagnosed with leukemia. Chemotherapy is not working, and she needs a bone marrow transplant. Since neither of the parents is suitable as a donor, the bone marrow should come from a sibling. Unsuccessful attempts at artificial insemination convince Mei Zhu that the only solution is to sleep with Xiao Lu for one last time. Ethical issues that are evoked by this film include the social problems generated by the one-child policy; giving birth to a child to save the life of another; the limits of family responsibilities in the care of its members.

Wang Xiaoshuai (Beijing Bicycle 2001; Shanghai Dreams, 2005) is well recognised among Western film audiences and has been awarded many foreign prizes. He is one of the most important members of the Sixth Generation of Chinese film directors, who, although through different cinematic styles and languages, share an interest in the present and future of China, in urban lives and in the problems of adjusting to major changes after the advent of the post-1980s economy.

Part of Chinese Film and the Body (2016–2017): a series of workshops exploring social and cultural issues related to health, medicine and the body in 20th and 21st century China, as represented in Chinese cinema.
Organised by the UCL China Centre for Health and Humanity (CCHH).

Especially suitable for people interested in:
Chinese studies, Film Studies, Medical Humanities, Health Humanities
Open to:
Members of UCL and
Registered Friends of the UCL China Centre for Health and Humanity
To register and join our Events mailing list, please follow this link.

The workshops take place at 6.30pm on Tuesdays during term-time, from 15th November 2016 to 7th February 2017.

Each workshop session includes a film screening presented by a specialist, followed by a discussion and/or a live video Q&A session with the director.

You can find further details of the films and suggestions for background reading here:
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/chinahealth/newsx/chinese_film_workshops

The films are also core viewing for the UCL CHH MA module in Chinese Film and the Body.

Chinese film evening – In Love We Trust 左右 (2008)