Director seeks objectivity in portrayal of China

Filmmaker hopes his work can persuade people to take a better look at the country, Alywin Chew reports in Shanghai.

British director Malcolm Clarke says he relishes confronting anti-China supporters who may discredit his upcoming documentary, Viral.

Filmed in Wuhan, Hubei province, during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, Viral features interviews with several groups of people, including local medical workers, senior officials and wet market traders.

The Academy Award winner made the remarks during an event on April 8 which unveiled the Shanghai Through Our Eyes video series as part of efforts to mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China this year.

Comprising 100 short videos produced by Xinmin Evening News, the series aims to share stories of the city's development through the eyes of expats living in the city.

The expats in the videos come from all walks of life and include scientists, entrepreneurs, experts, scholars, artists, and even sports stars.

At the launch event, Shanghai's publicity chief Zhou Huilin says such storytelling will help people gain a better understanding of the CPC.

"Reporters have interviewed 100 people from the political, business and intellectual communities, and they are going to share their feelings and experiences about the city," Zhou says.

Clarke, who has been living in Shanghai for the past few years, is among the 100 expats featured in the series.

When asked by local media about how he would deal with those who doubt the authenticity of the content presented in his upcoming documentary, Clarke says he is eager to engage with such people.

"I'm looking forward to people saying that I'm lying or that I've been bought by the Chinese government," he says.

"How dare they tell me that I'm speaking lies. I was in Wuhan. They were not. I took the risk to go there. They didn't take the risk."

Clarke also praises China's handling of the pandemic, saying the country managed to get the outbreak under control due to decisive, strong and smart decisions that were made very early.

He adds that those who criticize China's management of the crisis only need to compare the current situation in the country with the rest of the world.

"My friends and family see me going to restaurants and the movies, and walking along the streets in Shanghai, and they cannot believe the kind of life the Chinese are living," he says.

"Just compare this to what has happened in France, in my country, England, and in the US where there are half a million people dead."

The director has made several films in China, including Better Angels, a 2018 documentary focusing on turbulent relations between China and the United States.

He also addresses the current anti-China sentiment in the world, acknowledging that Western media outlets do have a penchant for portraying China in a negative light.

Clarke shares an anecdote to illustrate this bias.

"When I was filming Better Angels, I met a young American freelance journalist who had returned to the US after spending four years in China. He said he had to go home because the only stories he could sell were those that showed China in a negative light," he says.

"I thought that was a very interesting incident. There is a bias. Anybody who says there's no bias is lying."

As such, Clarke believes Westerners who are based in China can play a role in injecting more objectivity into the global conversation surrounding China. He points out that he tends to view matters differently from Chinese people as a Westerner, and hence would know how to tell stories about China that could better resonate with the Western audience.

"I really believe that the world's lack of understanding about China is dangerous. Just look at what's happening in the UK and in the US, with China being blamed for COVID-19 and the anti-Asian violence that's going on. The worst part of human nature is being focused on people of Asian descent for no other reason than this horrible kind of fake news," he says.

"My feeling about this is that if I can do my bit … and my films can persuade people to take a better look at China, and not just focus on its shortcomings but its achievements, I think I can be a bridge between the West and this country."

Clarke plans to remain in China and produce more films in the years to come. One of these projects will be a six-part series on English biochemist Joseph Needham who was an expert in the history of Chinese science and technology.