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15 October 2014

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Silk Screens

SILK SCREENS - this video portrait by British Chinese was filmed in the run up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics and exhibited in cities across the UK at simultaneous outdoor film screenings and live events celebrating the lives of the British Chinese, on July 19th 2008, as part of the CHINA NOW festival.

BIRMINGHAM - Photo Gallery
See Birmingham's Live Silk Screens event in Victoria Square.

GLASGOW - Photo Gallery
See Birmingham's Live Silk Screens event at Pacific Quay.

LONDON - Photo Gallery
See London's Live Silk Screens event in Leicester Square.

MANCHESTER - Photo Gallery
See Manchester's Live Silk Screens event in Exchange Square.

Films from the UK's British Chinese below.

WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	23 June 2008 WATCH THIS SPACE Jimmy Tam 2.47 mins When Jimmy was growing up there weren't many Chinese role models on the television screen, he feels its time British Chinese had more of a profile.	WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	10 July 2008 LONG JOURNEY TO CHINA Connie and Leslie Hoe 3.31 mins When China opened up to tourists it was the right time for Connie and Leslie to plan a trip of a lifetime, to visit the land where both their fathers came from.

WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	23 June 2008 EAST V WEST Antony Rickatson 2.44 mins Anthony compares and contrasts life as a student in the UK with Hong Kong.	WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	23 June 2008 ALIVE IN LIVERPOOL Xia Lu 4.49 mins Doctors in China told Xia Lu that she was going to die, but 20 years later she is alive and well in Liverpool.

WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	27 June 2008 STUDYING LIFE Jinyu Lu 2.35 mins Jinyu really likes learning about life in England but she has found many people don’t know much about her home, China.	WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	30 June 2008 MARTIAL HEART John Xue Zhang and Phoebe Chen 3.15 mins John has been doing martial arts since he was 5 years old. As well as keeping him fit, he sees it as an important link to his Chinese cultural roots.

WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	23 June 2008 RECORDING MY COMMUNITY Julie Fu 2.21 mins Julie's family come from Hong Kong and she grew up immersed in the family takeaway business. But when it came to her own career she wanted to use art to reflect Britain's changing Chinese communities.	WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	23 June 2008 CHINESE SCOUSER Perry Lee 2.11 mins Perry sees himself as a Scouser first then Chinese but he feels his heritage has always led to tensions in his life in Liverpool.

WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	23 June 2008 CHINA DRAWER Liying Liu 4.55 mins Liying has settled well in the UK but lacks a sense of belonging. She has a special drawer where she keeps all her precious memories of China but she is not even sure if that's where she considers home either.	WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	23 June 2008 CONNECTING HOME Louise MacDonald 3.27 mins Louise keeps much more up to date with everything happening back in China now she can talk to her family via the internet.

WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	23 June 2008 CHAO AT HOME Chao Chen 3.27 mins Ten year old Chao came to Gloucester when he was two. He missed China at first but this is now where he feels at home.	WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	23 June 2008 EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES Lena Juan 2.36 mins As a child in China, Lena wanted to help her mother and grandmother with their embroidery business. Now in London it's her daughter who is benefiting from three generations of Chinese tradition.

WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	16 June 2008 MY NEW COMMUNITY Yvonne Chin 2.11 mins Yvonne felt quite isolated when she moved from Hong Kong to Liverpool, so she started volunteering in the Chinese community.	WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	16 June 2008 JOURNEY TO THE WEST Theresa Teng 4.03 mins Theresa runs a Sunday Chinese School in Manchester. The children are preparing a play which aims at helping them explore their cultural roots.

WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	23 June 2008 MY OPERA DAYS Shirley Wong 2.39 mins Chinese opera is Shirley's passion but her busy family restaurant means she only gets to enjoy her hobby once a week!	WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	23 June 2008 THE ORIGINAL CHINATOWNERS Connie and Leslie Hoe 2.47 mins Connie and Leslie were part of quite a unique group of children growing up in the original Chinatown in Limehouse.

WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	23 June 2008 BOWLING CLUB Susan Chan 2.42 mins Susan found bowling was a great way to meet friends and fit in to the community when she came to Newcastle from Hong Kong.	WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	20 June 2008 CULTURAL CONFIDENCE Tony Tse 2.06 mins Tony has been very shy all his life. He has turned to helping his elderly Chinese community to try and overcome his shyness.

WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	16 June 2008 TRADITIONAL TREATMENT Ying Gao Zhi 3.15 mins Ying Gao gave up accountancy to practice Chinese medicine when she came to Newcastle. She feels Eastern and Western medicine can really complement each other.	WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	20 June 2008 REFLECTING COMMUNITY Moira Kenny 3.16 mins Moira’s childhood fascination with Chinese culture has shaped her as and adult and she now uses her art to work with Liverpool's Chinese community.

WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	16 June 2008 FORTUNE COOKIE Ke Cai 4.04 mins Ke is Chinese but now lives in Glasgow. His time in the UK has given him chance to reflect on his homeland and he thinks developments there can be compared to the making of a Chinese fortune cookie.	WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	16 June 2008 DRAGON TONGUE Dragon Tongue Squad 4.17 mins Witness a rare and unique musical collaboration between China's foremost Hip Hop act and emerging British Chinese musicians.

WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	16 June 2008 ADOPTED IDENTITY Tina Freeth 5.05 mins Tina's cultural roots are complex. She is British Born Chinese but she was adopted by a white working class family when she was very young.	WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	16 June 2008 BEHIND THE DRAGON Amy, Amanda and Cuebong 3.38 mins Amy, Amanda and Cuebong see Chinese Dragon Dancing as an important way for them to keep their Chinese heritage alive.

WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	13 June 2008 MY IDENTITY James Lee 2.11 mins As a British Born Chinese, James became more interested in his Chinese identity and heritage when he was at secondary school.	WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	06 June 2008 BIKING COMMUNITY Jason Lau 4.05 mins Jason is a passionate biker. He thinks there is nothing better than the thrill of being on the open road with the biking community in Manchester.

WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	12 June 2008 PURSUIT OF PERFECTION Tom Braithwaite 2.10 mins Tom’s passion for Kung Fu took him to China where he immersed himself into Chinese culture, which has now become his way of life.	WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	06 June 2008 PORTRAYING ANOTHER CHINA Natasha Huang 2.44 mins Natasha Huang hopes her art exhibition can help convince people there is more to Chinese culture than “cheap toys and take aways”.

WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	06 June 2008 DAUGHTER NUMBER ONE Sharon Zhu 4.25 mins Sharon, like so many Chinese people of her generation, is an only child. She had no idea of family life with siblings until she came to Glasgow.	WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	06 June 2008 FITTING IN Qiunan Fu 4.25 mins Chinese student Qiunan loves London. She says it’s a really easy city to fit into because it has such a diverse population.

WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	06 June 2008 WEST TO EAST Julie Sohoo 5.05 mins Growing up in Wales was quite a strange experience for Julie whose family is Chinese and she feels she would like to find out more about her cultural roots.	WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	06 June 2008 CHINESE KNOTS Tuang-Jung Lee 3.26 mins Tuang-Jung loves the traditional art of making Chinese knots but she fears the skill could be lost as the next generation looses interest in Chinese traditions.

WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	06 June 2008 LIVERPOOL LIPING YANG Fenfen Huang 2.48 mins Fenfen has always wanted to be a professional dancer but only realised her dream she left China and came to Liverpool.	WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	06 June 2008 MANCUNIAN CANDIDATE Pei (Nick) Wu 3.11 mins Nick talks about the differences between life back home in China and his experience as a Mancunian student.

WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	06 June 2008 I AM CHINESE Sue Lau 2.53 mins Sue Lau feels she knows her own identity as a British Born Chinese, but that other people often get confused about who she is.	WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	30 June 2008 FUSING ART Morica Wangyan 2.13 mins Morica feels she has made an important artistic journey by leaving China to live and study art in Glasgow.

WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	24 April 2008 CHINESE HOGMANAY Lyman Chan and The Chinese Community Development Trust 4.05 mins Glasgow's Chinese community prepare for their annual New Year show at the Royal Concert Hall. It brings a whole new meaning to Hogmanay.	WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	23 May 2008 OUT OF PLACE Hermanto Djonny 3.36 mins Djonny has felt out of place most of his life because he feels confused about his true identity.

WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	24 April 2008 TAKEAWAY DRUMS Yuk Kiu (Lydia) Tse 2.39 mins Lydia had a vision of drumming on Olympic rings in the kitchen of her Chinese takeaway – so from using chopsticks on food containers she formed a Chinese drum orchestra.	WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	20 April 2008 LEARNING OUR ROOTS Sandra Yee 1.44 mins Sandra was born in the UK but never learnt much about China because her parents were busy. Now she wants to embrace her Chinese roots with her own children.

WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	24 April 2008 TALENT IN CHURCH Kui (Talent) Jiang 3.29 mins Talen came to Luton to get a degree and make some new friends but unexpectedly she found God when she left China.	WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	20 April 2008 BRIDGING EAST AND WEST Hi (Harry) Wang 3.29 mins Harry talks about his life in the UK, with a Chinese twist!

WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	23 April 2008 CHINESE MEDICINE Dr Zhong (Jenny) Zhau 2.20 mins Dr Jenny as she's known by her patients in Worcester is committed to making people well through traditional Chinese Medicine.	WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	20 April 2008 CHANGED MAN Gerald Sze 2.20 mins Gerald has changed since he came to Britain from Hong Kong - but it's not the country - its his new found faith that's made the difference.

WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	11 April 2008 CHINESE DANCING Jade and Emily 2.03 mins Jade and Emily are a bit nervous ahead of their New Year performance at Leeds' Town Hall.	WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	20 April 2008 CULTURAL LIFE Margaret Wan 3.23 mins After twenty years in the UK Margaret is still keeping her traditional Chinese culture alive.

WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	10 Mar 2008 CANTONESE OPERA Michael Kwan 2.30 mins Michael thinks more Chinese people should rediscover their cultural identity.	WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	12 Feb 2008 CELEBRATING CHINESE NEW YEAR Tyze Li 3.44 mins Tyze Li talks through the celebrations of the Year of the Rat in Manchester.

WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	14 Feb 2008 A TIME FOR FAMILY Valerie Tsai-Yu Chan 1.38 mins Valerie's come to England from Taiwan - so this year she's had to experience Chinese New Year without her family.	WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	20 Mar 2008 NEW YEAR FUN The Community 2.31 mins The Chinese New Year celebrations in Liverpool are a really multicultural and wide reaching event.

WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	14 Mar 2008 CHINESE LANTERN FESTIVAL Fenfen Huang 1.58 mins Chinese dancer Fenfen explains why she thinks it's important to celebrate Chinese Culture in Liverpool.	WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	08 Feb 2008 INSIDE THE LION'S HEAD Daniel Hawkins 2.03 mins Daniel has been immersed in Chinese culture since he was a lad because of his dad's passion for martial arts.

WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	08 Feb 2008 CHINESE TRADITION Hilda White 3.24 mins Hilda celebrated her Chinese New Year in style, with bright decorations, a feast of foods and close friends and family.	WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	08 Feb 2008 NEW YEAR MEAL Vivienne Yau and Mr Lui 2.31 mins Vivienne and her Head Chef, Mr Liu cook up a traditional Chinese New Year meal.

WATCH THIS VIDEO Find out more	08 Feb 2008 LISTENING TO MUMMY'S MANDARIN Hirondelle Chatelard 1.30 mins Hirondelle is half French half Chinese. She is studying Mandarin at University and hopes to pass on her cultural roots to her daughter.	WATCH THESE VIDEOS Find out more	RELATED FILMS FROM THE ARCHIVE Take a look back at some other Video Nation contributors films about their Britsh Chinese experiences.

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