#Me Too in Hong Kong
with Gina Marchetti
University of Hong Kong
Hosted by the Department of Gender and Women's Studies, co-sponsored by the Berkeley Center for New Media, the Department of Film Studies, and the Center for Chinese Studies.Funding provided by the Chau Hoi Shuen Foundation Fund in Gender and Women's Studies
As the Harvey Weinstein allegations opened up the depth and breadth of sexual harassment in Hollywood, Weinstein’s associates in Hong Kong and the People’s Republic of China came under scrutiny as well. Hong Kong serves as a bridge as well as a gateway between mainland Chinese and Hollywood concerns as well as the nexus for a constellation of industrial networks ranging from Europe through Northeast as well as Southeast Asia to other parts of the world. The very different ways in which women (and a few men) have chosen to come forward recently about their experiences of sexual harassment exposes only the tip of the iceberg of systemic problems that range from mainland Chinese film censorship to unequal pay, sexual objectification on screen, and a dearth of opportunities to serve as film directors, cinematographers, and in other creative roles. From the initial denial of sexual harassment in the People’s Republic of China to accusations from Hong Kong actresses who have worked on Weinstein productions, this range of hostility toward women in the industry indicates that any analysis must take into account the history as well as current responses to the plight of women in Chinese-language film culture as well as in the wider local and global society in which they live. This lecture considers the #MeToo movement in Asia as a window onto issues surrounding women in the Chinese-language film industry, Orientalism in transnational cinema, and the politics of looking in contemporary global cinema.
About Gina Marchetti
Gina Marchetti teaches courses in film, gender and sexuality, critical theory and cultural studies and the University of Hong Kong. She is the author of Romance and the "Yellow Peril": Race, Sex and Discursive Strategies in Hollywood Fiction (University of California, 1993), From Tian’anmen to Times Square: Transnational China and the Chinese Diaspora on Global Screens (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2006), and The Chinese Diaspora on American Screens: Race, Sex, and Cinema (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2012), Andrew Lau and Alan Mak’s INFERNAL AFFAIRS—The Trilogy (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2007), and Citing China: Politics, Postmodernism, and World Cinema (Hawai’i, 2018).
Visit the website https://hkwomenfilmmakers.wordpress.com/ for more information about her current work on Hong Kong women filmmakers since 1997. To register for her Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Hong Kong cinema, go to https://www.edx.org/course/hong-kong-cinema-through-global-lens-hkux-hku06-1x