China Love: A Documentary about Pre-Wedding Photography and Marriage in China

Description

China Love takes the audience on a billion-dollar ride of fantasy exploring contemporary China through the window of the pre-wedding photography industry. Originally broadcast on ABC Television /Screen Australia, the film is a feature-length observational documentary which follows Chinese and Australian participants as they navigate love, weddings, and family in the lead up to the most important ritual of Chinese society –getting married. It premiered at Sydney Film Festival and internationally at DOCNYC – and is screening regularly on the international festival circuit. The photo series from this project was featured in TIME, The Guardian and VICE. The China Love photo series is currently being exhibited at the Shanghai centre of Photography, and a photobook from the series is published by Media Stockade.

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion between director Olivia Martin-McGuire and two of the film protagonists Jen Cheng and David Shaw.

Based in Hong Kong, Australian documentary filmmaker/ photographer Martin-McGuire has exhibited throughout Australia and China in galleries, museums and photo festivals. She is part of a group of photo and video journalists called Eyes On China, and currently developing several new hybrid documentary projects and a television series in China.

Shaw grew up in Byron Bay and first visited China on a holiday to Shanghai while still studying at university. It left such an impression that he started studying Chinese after he returned to Australia, and later signed up to a yearlong exchange program to Shandong University.  After 8 years working and studying in China he moved with Cheng to Hong Kong in 2017.

An event professional Cheng grew up in Urumqi, Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China, and later moved to Beijing for university. Kong.