What can noses tell us about Chinese identity, and the PRC's increasingly important place in the world? Throughout Chinese history, noses have been used to separate Chinese people from foreigners. In the present day, they can also be the key to changing your destiny. If we know more about noses, perhaps we can better understand how China sees itself and its increasingly important place in the world.
Awards: Southeast Asia International Film Festival – Best Short Documentary
Director’s Comment: China is the new superpower, but people outside the PRC know very little about it. I wanted to go beyond the headlines to see how Chinese people understand the world in their everyday life. I decided that focusing on noses would be a great entry point into this discussion because on the one hand, it's very strange to people outside East Asia, and on the other it's very obvious to people in China, Taiwan and South Korea. Noses thus show how Chinese people divide up the world, and also point to how they understand their individual destiny--and the world's shared destiny.
Bill Callahan is director and producer at Sensible Films where he makes films about China and the world. He taught visual international politics and filmmaking at the London School of Economics for a decade, and is now based in Singapore.
Kieran Hanson is director and producer at Kenawa Films and Belle Vue Productions and Visiting Lecturer in Film Practice at the University of Manchester. He specialises in research film projects, short documentaries, and teaching ethnographic and documentary film practice.