A new Chinese-American co-produced documentary, "Better Angels", reveals a suitable alternative on how China and the United States can reach out to one another and improve relations despite the current situation.
The 92-minute film, written and directed by two-time Academy Award-winner Malcolm Clarke and produced by William Mundell and Han Yi, examines the proposition that America and China can benefit enormouslyif they look beyond their usual rivalries and work for a future where their differences are respected and focus on issue that would call for their collaboration and partnership.
During the premiere of the documentary on Saturday in Beijing, Mundell said "I hope the film will shatter the myths that Americans hold about China and Chinese hold about America."
Many local and American elites watched the special premiere hosted by the Center for China and Globalization, including American ambassador to China, Terry Branstad.
Branstad, the former governor of Iowa, actually appeared in the film as one of the key interviewees among the likes of iconic political and business heavyweights in the arena of Sino-US relations including three former US secretaries of state Henry Kissinger, James Baker, and Madeleine Albright, former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd, and Tung Chee-hwa, the first chief executive of the HKSAR, China and Chinese billionaire tycoons Wang Jianlin and Ronnie Chan, as well as economist Cheng Siwei and retired major general Qiao Liang.
However, their statements were just the background to the intimate and sometimes heartbroken portrayal and stories of ordinary Chinese and Americans who became "accidental diplomats" enhancing civil exchanges and bonds between the two countries, including Memo Mata, a former US marine from Los Fresnos, Texas, who moved to China and not only became an English teacher and football coach, but also married a Chinese woman.
The film also shows several aspects on how Chinese people are assisting the world and also feature the plight these individuals had to face. One of them is a Chinese engineer who had to work overseas just to help his family survive. However, because of where he is based, he could not communicate with them often. More than 60 million children in China are growing in remote villages without parents as their parents move to cities or even overseas for work.
"If you can affect people emotionally, not intellectually, they will remember things for a very long time. That is what we tried to do with this film," said director Clarke.
To confront accusations by US President Donald Trump and other politicians about how Chinese are "stealing" American jobs, the documentary shows that the jobs are not stolen but have moved to China due to low costs, and the same thing is happening for China now, as many jobs have relocated to Africa.
The film was cut from more than 800 hours of footage and has been made over five years, shot on four different continents. For Chinese producer Han Yi, the challenge was to find stories that entertain and move audiences.
"Not everyone is perfect, and no country is perfect. But we can go beyond the often heard or repeated topics and see something deeper?" Han said, "Actually American and Chinese are the same: we both want a better life and better future for our next generation."
At the beginning of the film, now 95-year-old Henry Kissinger is seen warning the audiences of China and America, "If we are to clash, it would be a disaster for the whole world." Interestingly, the title of the film was inspired by the first presidential address of US President Abraham Lincoln in 1861 as he tries to unite both North and South American states.
"When I interviewed Henry Kissinger in New York, he applied the term to China and America. If we appeal to the better part of our nature, perhaps we can avoid conflicts," said director Clarke, "We thought it was the perfect title for the film."
The documentary was already released in a limited number of cinemas in November in the United States. According to ARTeFact Entertainment, the producers of the film, it will be shown to 2,000 Chinese cinemas by January as part of the 40th anniversary of Chinese-US diplomatic relations.
"Americans have sensed that China is an Asian mystery. But as Zhou Enlai, the first premier of the People's Republic of China, told Henry Kissinger, 'We are not that mysterious. Just come to know us'," Clarke added, pointing out the mission of his film.
