L.A. Pengyous: You have an opportunity to view Miao Wang’s award winning documentary Maineland, as well get your questions answered by Miao Wang herself, and the producer of the film Damon Smith. The showings will take place in three locations:

• Laemmle Music Hall (June 8th, twice daily for one week – 12pm, 4:50pm)
• AMC Atlantic Times Square Monterey Park (June 8th, for one week – 7pm [other showtimes TBD])
• Art Theatre Long Beach (June 9th, 11am)

About the Film

Filmed over three years in China and the U.S., Maineland is the winner of the SXSW Film Festival special
jury prize. Maineland is a multi-layer coming of age tale that follows two affluent and cosmopolitan teenagers as they settle into a boarding school in blue-collar rural Maine. Filmed over three years, the documentary centers on two characters: bubbly, fun-loving Stella and introspective Harry, who both 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. In one sleepy Maine town, worlds collide as students fresh from China learn to navigate the muddy waters of this microcosmic global village.

About Miao Wang

Miao Wang is a New York based award-winning filmmaker who focuses on creative and cinematic documentaries that inspire cultural understanding and a humanist perspective of the world. She was born in Beijing but then moved to the United States in 1990 to pursue higher education. After earning her B.A. in economics from the University of Chicago in 1999, she decided to pursue her passions in film. By 2005, she received an M.F.A. in design and film from the Parsons school of Design and began her work in non-fiction filmmaking.

Now, Miao Wang runs her own production studio – Three Waters Films – and has become an international, critically acclaimed filmmaker. Having been screened at over 70 international festivals as well as institutions such as SXSW and the Guggenheim Museum, she has established herself as a leader in her industry. Her ability to traverse intercultural boundaries and limiting gender stereotypes have made her a successful filmmaker and an even greater Pengyou.  

Miao Wang and the Pengyous

Miao Wang recently wrote to a fellow Project Pengyou chapter at Middlebury College after hearing that they screened her movie. She wrote to congratulate their board on a eventful year: “Great to see that the local chapters [of Project Pengyou] are alive and active! We are thrilled to bring Maineland to classrooms and clubs like yours… Your school does an amazing job providing the language and cultural skills for truly global citizens” wrote Miao Wang.

Miao Wang’s success as an international filmmaker makes her a model global citizen while her film, Mainland, has helped make us all better Pengyous.

If you’re in L.A., Pengyou, take advantage of this opportunity to not only see the internationally acclaimed film Maineland, but also connect with the director who made it all happen.

For more information, be sure to check out the team’s website and facebook page as well! More details on the Los Angeles screening locations can be found here.