JMSC hosts renowned filmmaker Joan Chen for ‘Magic Fish’ talk at HKU

On 18 September, the JMSC hosted a talk featuring Joan Chen, a renowned actress, filmmaker, and writer, who discussed her memoir, "Magic Fish". She was joined by JMSC Director Professor Ruby Yang and noted media figure Xu Zhiyuan.

Born in Shanghai, Chen now resides in San Francisco, travelling often to Asia for film projects. She first won international acclaim for her role in "The Last Emperor" (1987), an epic biographical drama about the life of Puyi, the last Emperor of China, directed by Bernardo Bertolucci.

Speaking to a captivated audience of over 800 at HKU's Grand Hall, Chen shared the deeply personal origins of her memoir. She described how five separate quarantines in Shanghai, while visiting her ailing mother, became the catalyst for writing. She used the isolation to begin writing a series of 10,000-word essays that would become the foundation for "Magic Fish".

She also shared some warm memories of collaborating with Professor Yang on the films "Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl" (1998) and "Autumn in New York" (2000).