Henrick Vartanian
A brand new documentary film BETTER ANGELS, examining the US-China relationship is doing its festival circuit before its limited theatrical release in November.
As the producer of the film, and author William Mundel points out, Lee Kuan Yew, the founding prime minister of Singapore, often said that competition between the US and China is inevitable, but conflict is not. He may have been underestimating the suspicions and fears underlying great power relations today. In an article in South China Morning post, Mundel adds that in Trumpian logic, because the United States runs a US$375 billion trade deficit with China, it has way more to lose than the US in any unraveling and will, therefore, be the first to “cry uncle”. It is true that the Chinese economy is presently more dependent on trade than the US economy.
See the trailer for BETTER ANGELS in this post.
Five years in the making, BETTER ANGELS is the untold story of the true potential of the US-China relationship. Culled from 850 hours of footage shot across four continents, BETTER ANGELS explores how the world’s two largest superpowers are racing towards economic and political conflict, but that each finds itself undeniably linked and interdependent by the new reality of global economic rivalries and cultural ties.
Written and directed by two-time Academy Award-winning British filmmaker, Malcolm Clarke, BETTER ANGELS tell its story with interspersing points of view by prominent personalities and leaders on each side. From three former US Secretaries of State—Henry Kissinger, James Baker and Madeleine Albright (and their Chinese counterparts) as well as numerous other political, economic and academic figures, they weigh in through exclusive sit down interviews. Their commentary is woven between stories of ordinary citizens building bridges between China and the United States—from engineers to football coaches.
If not serving as a voice of reason amid the cacophony of current Sino-US relations, the film presents a multi-angle look at the complexities of the two countries and their economies from the viewpoint of experts and leaders and can act as an educational tool.
See BETTER ANGELS at the Asian World Film Festival 2018.
Screening at the Asian World Film Festival on October 28th. Stay for the post-screening discussion with director Malcolm Clarke, producers William Mundell and Han Yi as well as co-hosts of the evening Neil Shen, Adrian Cheng and Vincent Cheng.
A limited theatrical release will start on November 2 in NY and LA until a wider release in 2019.
