Chris Berry is Professor of Film Studies at King's College London. His research focuses on the cinemas of the Sinosphere, and he has been writing about Chinese film for over 40 years now. During the 1980s, he worked for China Film Export and Import Corporation in Beijing, and since then he has taught in Australia and at UC Berkeley as well as in the UK.

His primary publications include: (with Mary Farquhar) Cinema and the National: China on Screen (Columbia University Press and Hong Kong University Press, 2006); Chinese Film Festivals: Sites of Translation (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017); (edited with Janet Harbord and Rachel Moore), Public Space, Media Space (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013); Chinese Cinema, 4 vols, (London: Routledge, 2012); (edited with Lu Xinyu and Lisa Rofel), The New Chinese Documentary Film Movement: For the Public Record (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2010); (editor) Chinese Films in Focus II (British Film Institute, 2008); and (co-edited with Feii Lu) Island on the Edge: Taiwan New Cinema and After (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2005).

Zhang Hua is a professor at the School of Journalism and Communication of Southwest University and a visiting scholar at King’s College London. She received her PhD from Beijing Film Academy in China in 2009. Having been trained in film history, she specializes in early Chinese cinema and media culture. She has published extensively on this subject, including the monograph Yao Sufeng and the Film Groups of China in the 1930s, which sheds new light on early Chinese film culture through a case study of Yao Sufeng, one of the most influential figures in early Chinese film history, the left-wing cinema movement in particular. Another field of her research is Xinjing Film Studio and its productions. She has published a series of papers on this subject and the monograph On Xinjiang Film. The first book explores the over-50-year history of the studio and the major features produced by the studio. Her current research focuses on the dissemination of Chinese Films in the UK from the 1970s to the present time. Her forthcoming book will deal with how Chinese films spread in the UK, and what are the key elements that affect the dissemination process.

Dr Xintong Jia is a lecturer in Sociology at the University of Essex. Her research interest intersects media and gender, (post) feminism in contemporary China, advertising and consumer culture, reality dating TV, and audience reception in global and transnational contexts.

Shiying Liu is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Nottingham, and her thesis explores the relations between China’s national brand and the film industry with a focus on the development of the China Film Corporation (CFC). Before starting her Ph.D., she held an MA degree in film studies from University College London. She has a broad research interest in nation and cinema in various contexts and the role of cultural policies, and branding strategies in film industries.

Aurora Engine / Deborah Shaw is a composer, harpist and pianist based in Edinburgh. Fusing real instruments, voice and progressive electronica, her work encapsulates a singular and striking sonic landscape. Using collected sounds and inspiration drawn from the natural world such as birdsong, the tides and community voices, she sets out to create beguiling songs and compelling soundscapes. She collaborated with Mint Chinese Film Festival to deliver the Opening Gala: Pan Si Dong (1927) plus live music performance in Feb 2023.

Performing as Aurora Engine, she is due to release an album, funded by Creative Scotland in Feb 24.

Working as a film composer, Deborah has written 3 film scores over the last 2 years, ‘Down The Rabbit Hole’ (Available on Amazon Prime) for SPIRAL OUT PICTURES and two other productions with HOT ACHES PRODUCTIONS and CINETOPIA.

Lu Li is a Writer/Director. She recently graduated from the MFA Film program at Columbia University where she was trained as a writer and director. Her thesis short film is currently in pre-production. A 60 minute play Move based on her thesis concept debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 2023. Previously, she had off-Broadway experience as director, assistant director and dramaturg.

Yixiang is the Co-founder, Director and Lead Curator of MINT Chinese Film Festival.

She is a London/Beijing-based film curator devoted to curating and growing diverse film festivals, exhibitions and programmes for three years with collaborators across Europe and Asia. After graduating from MSc Film, Exhibition and Curation at the University of Edinburgh, she co-founded and led the curation of the Mint Chinese Film Festival in Keswick in 2023. She programmed for Climate Crisis Film Festival, UN Women Global Voices Film Festival. She served as the lead film curator of 2022 Odyssey: a Chinese Cinema Season, and co-curated Colour Across Chinese Cinemas supported by the University of St Andrew and UK China Film China Film Collab.

Her curatorial vision is to curate for underrepresented voices, images and stories. She views curating as an artistic and cultural practice encompassing the dynamic research process.