Group 8 Introduction

    Our group consists of Abby Oxley, Kristen Vitolo, Christina Wang, and Yunfei Qiang who will introduce themselves below!

    Hey y’all! My name is Abby (she/her). I am a second semester senior here at Cal! I'm majoring in Film and Media Studies, with a minor in Scandinavian Studies. I’m originally from the OC, and have been in Berkeley going on 4 years. My interests have been drawn toward observing and analyzing the formal elements of the films. I'm interested in how the formal elements inform the plot and story, while also informing a cultural perspective and (possibly unspoken) understanding. With my background studying Scandinavian culture and media in conjunction, I want to apply some of that same methodology to become more educated on Chinese culture and media (particularly cinema). I have studied how folklore and early storytelling can reflect contemporary media and would be curious to also apply that lens here. For this area of study, I'm interested in the contemporary lore of the cinema.  With that, and given the efforts that are put forth for the sake of research in this class, I hope, I too can contribute to understanding and unraveling a little bit more of cinema’s history. Especially, alongside my already spectacular partners whom I feel lucky to study with.

    Hello! My name is Kristen Vitolo (she/her), and I am a second-year student studying Data Science. I have not previously taken a film class at Berkeley, so I am very excited to gain more exposure to Chinese culture through Chinese films and learn about film techniques. My maternal grandparents were born in China and have told me countless stories of their lives growing up during the Japanese occupation, the rise of communism, and immigrating to America where they met. Their life experiences while living in China were vastly different, which gave me two perspectives on early to mid-20th century Chinese culture and politics. In this research project, I can further explore how Chinese culture was brought to America through these films, the theaters, and the cultural environment surrounding them. From hearing their respective viewpoints, I am very interested in seeing how the historical events and stories similar to theirs might be portrayed in Chinese media and film! 

    Hi! My name is Christina (she/hers), and I am a fourth year studying Cognitive Science and Psychology from San Diego, CA! With my Cognitive Science background, I am interested in learning more about the mental activity that takes place within the audience’s brain while watching films. I have minimal film knowledge but am interested in researching the beauty behind Chinese films, the history of Chinese theaters, and how cognition plays a role in the analysis of Chinese films. Specifically, I am interested in how Chinese films portray the resilience and grit of first-generation Chinese immigrants who endured countless hardships in order to build a foundation for generations to come, much like my parents did upon coming to the US. I am excited to begin this project and delve deeper into the history of Chinese film through primary and secondary sources from the East Asian library!

    Hi everyone! My name is Yunfei. My pronouns are she/her/hers. I am a fourth year senior majoring in Economics and Political Economy. I was born in Xi’an, China and moved to the United States at the age of 16. With my background in Chinese language and culture, I have always been interested in Chinese films. I find films in Chinese dialects particularly fascinating. My favorite Chinese directors are Lou Ye, Jia Zhangke, and Wong Kar-wai. I am interested in understanding how movies reflect and criticize the socio-political changes of China from 1970s-present. In terms of our research project, I am excited to explore the role of Chinese theatres in the culture of Chinese immigrants: how they perform more social functions than simply screening venues, as places for social interactions, conflicts and cultural evolutions in the Bay area. 

Initial Meeting Notes + Thoughts:

    We began discussing potential research topics and project ideas during our East Asian library tour. After talking about our group project styles and work ethic, we decided that it would be best to split up the research into 4 equal parts to look up ideas for research. We all conducted our own research then created a shared Google Doc where we formatted the blog post for today. We think this was the best way to tackle this portion. Additionally, we met on Monday morning over Zoom to check-in on our individual introductions for the blog post and further consolidate our interests into a few key topics that we would like to focus on as a group. 

Topics of interest:

• Preservation of SF Chinese theaters as cultural landmarks vs tearing down the space to be used for another business (ex. Grandview theater is now a paper goods shop)
  
  
• The extra-theatrical role of SF Chinese theaters
• especially as places where conflicts emerge. (ex. Boyd M. (2012). “The Gold Mountain Theater Riots: A Social History of Chinese Theater Riots in San Francisco during the 1870s and 1880s”)
  
  
• Grandview Theater in SF + its impact on second-generation Chinese immigrants during Great Depression era
  
  
• “Silk Screens” (1982-1987) film series 
• life of Chinese seamstress in SF – portrays 1st-generation Chinese woman in America

Research strategies:

    Currently, we have two main research strategies for this project. We want to focus on one theater and visit it to see what movies are currently being played/how the surrounding community embodies Chinese culture. One potential theater we discussed this week is the Grandview Theater in San Francisco because of its impact on second-generation Chinese immigrants during the Great Depression era. Then, we will review archived images of this theater through libraries and other archives, including the C.V. Starr East Asian Library, and compare them to current images of the location.