Chinese Film with Paul Pickowicz

Week of January 17, 2026

Women in Chinese Silent Cinema
This event highlights rare and intriguing film clips from the 1920-1935 silent-era cinema of Shanghai.  The emphasis is on the surprising and fascinating roles played by women in early 20th century China.  Topics include evolving social class dynamics, shifting gender roles, and debates about the nature of the modern marriage.

Unofficial Filmmaking in Early 21st Century China
Is it true that all movies made in early 21st century China were produced by government filmmakers?  Not true.  This presentation introduces stunning live action and documentary films made by independent, non-state sector artists at the start of the 21st century.  Topics include new migration patterns, identity politics, and social protest.

 

Paul Pickowicz is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History at the University of California, San Diego, and inaugural holder of the UCSD Endowed Chair in Modern Chinese History.  He has produced 20 books (authored, coauthored, and coedited) including Chinese Village, Socialist State (winner of the 1993 Joseph Levenson Prize of the Association for Asian Studies).  Another book, China on Film: A Century of Exploration, Confrontation, and Controversy, examines the history of Chinese cinema.  He has won three distinguished teaching awards: UC San Diego Alumni Association (1998), Chancellor’s Associates (2009), and Academic Senate (2003).  Pickowicz has graduated 38 PhD students.  He has held visiting appointments at Oxford, National University of Singapore, University of Edinburgh, University of Heidelberg, East China Normal University, City University of Hong Kong, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Hong Kong Institute of Education, Renmin University, and Schwarzman College (Tsinghua University).  He is associate producer of the documentary film China in Revolution, 1911-1949 (1989).  Pickowicz was honored by the German government in 2016 with a Humboldt Research Award for lifetime accomplishments in research and teaching.