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“Maineland” Screening
September 17, 2018 @ 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm EDT
Watch the film and talk with the director, Miao Wang.
- Explore international student experiences
- Develop cultural understanding
- Build and inclusive MSU community
Film Synopsis
Filmed over three years in China and the U.S., “Maineland” is a multi-layered coming-of-age tale that follows two affluent and cosmopolitan teenagers as they settle into a boarding school in blue-collar rural Maine. Part of the enormous wave of “parachute students” from China enrolling in U.S. private schools, bubbly, fun-loving Stella and introspective Harry come seeking a Western-style education, escape from the dreaded Chinese college entrance exam, and the promise of a Hollywood-style U.S. high school experience. As Stella and Harry’s fuzzy visions of the American dream slowly gain more clarity, they ruminate on their experiences of alienation, culture clash, and personal identity, sharing new understandings and poignant discourses on home and country.
About the Director
Miao Wang is an award-winning filmmaker based in NY. Her critically-acclaimed documentary films “Beijing Taxi” (feature-length) and “Yellow Ox Mountain” have screened at over 70 international festivals and institutions such as SXSW and the Guggenheim Museum, with US theatrical release, and broadcast nationwide. “Beijing Taxi” is digitally distributed by Sundance Artist Services. She directed “Made by China in America,” a short in Morgan Spurlock’s acclaimed We The Economy series. Wang is a recipient of grants and fellowship from the Sundance Institute, the Jerome Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts, the Tribeca Film Institute, IFP, and Women Make Movies.
Film Accolades
- SXSW Documentary Feature Competition (WINNER – Special Jury Award)
- Independent Film Festival of Boston (WINNER – Special Jury Award)
- New Hampshire Film Festival (WINNER – Audience Choice Award)
Event Sponsors
Co-Sponsored by the Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education, MSU Libraries, ComArtSci, Asian Pacific American Studies Program, Office for International Students and Scholars, Visiting International Professional Program, and Residence Education and Housing Services.