William Hong-xiao Wei

Thesis title: Contemporary Poetic Cinema through the Lens of Traditional Chinese Poetics

PhD in Film Studies

Year of study: 4

Contact details

Address

Street

50 George Square
School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures

City
Edinburgh
Post code
EH8 9LH

Background

William Hong-xiao Wei is a PhD Candidate and Tutor in Film Studies at the University of Edinburgh. He studied Chemical Engineering and Technology in Southeast University until 2014. He then switched to cinema and received a postgraduate degree with distinction in Film Studies from the University of Edinburgh in 2018. Under the supervision of Dr. David Sorfa and Dr. Xuelei Huang, he is currently working on a thesis entitled “Contemporary Poetic Cinema through the Lens of Traditional Chinese Poetics”, which attempts to apply traditional Chinese lyric theories and aesthetic concepts to contemporary arthouse cinema. His debut short film Green Thoughts (2020) had its world premiere at FIDMarseille (Compétition Premier Film & Compétition Flash). His latest film, distributed by Collectif Jeune Cinéma, premiered in Festival des Cinémas Différents et Expérimentaux de Paris in 2022. His works have been screened in film festivals globally.

Qualifications

MSc Film Studies - Distinction - The University of Edinburgh

BEng (Hons) - Chemical Engineering and Technology - Southeast University

Undergraduate teaching

Introduction to European Cinema — Course Tutor

Current research interests

Experimental Film, Art House Cinema, Philosophy and Film, Cinematic Aesthetics , Film Phenomenology, Film and other Arts, Traditional Chinese Aesthetics of Poetry and Painting

Conference details

“Candlelight, Shadows and Mist: Human Suffering and Meditations on the Physical World’s Illusions and Impermanency in Oriental Elegy.” 2022 International Conference on Religion and Film, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 10 June 2022.

“The Poetics of Affections and Intricate Patterns: Passion, Sensuality and Haptics in Wong Kang-wai’s The Hand (2004).” Chinese Film Aesthetics Conference, University of Nottingham Ningbo China, 6 May 2022.

“The Aesthetics of Landscape in Alexander Sokurov’s Cinema and Traditional Chinese Painting.” Chinese Audio-Visual Cultures: The Interaction between China and the Rest of the World Symposium, The Centre for International Film Research/The Film department at the University of Southampton, 7 May 2021.

Embers from Yesterday, Aflame. (2022)

Experimental  ·  10:40  ·   2.35:1  ·   Colour and Black & White  

35mm & 8mm  ·  Stereo  ·  no dialogue  ·   4K DCP

Green Thoughts (2020)

Fiction  ·  27:53/19:55/4:50  ·   1.89:1  ·   Colour and Black & White  

Cellular Phone & 35mm  ·  Stereo  ·  English & French & Chinese  ·   4K DCP