''Bringing King to China'' is a 2011 documentary film by

Kevin McKiernan Kevin McKiernan is an American foreign correspondent, photographer and documentary filmmaker. McKiernan's work, nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, has taken him to some of the world's most troubled regions, from Nicaragua to Iraq and Syria, from W ...

. The cinematographers include three-time Oscar-winner Haskell Wexler. The documentary is "a father's 'love letter' to his adult daughter, a young American woman's year-long attempt to produce the international premiere of the American Clayborne Carson's play ''Passages of Martin Luther King'' on the stage of the National Theatre Company of China. Her life is thrown into turmoil when she learns, mistakenly, that her father, a journalist covering the war in Iraq, has been killed by a suicide bomber." ''Bringing King to China'' conveys the lead character's "dream to build a bridge between the societies by talking about peaceful struggle and universal rights." An American student who first studied in China in high school and later lived there on a Fulbright Scholarship, the lead character chronicles her struggle to interpret and adapt King's message for Chinese society, preserve the historical accuracy of the U.S. civil rights movement, clear bureaucratic hurdles before opening night and raise funds to pay the theater company. The film takes American viewers backstage at the

National Theatre Company of China The National Theater of China or National Theater Company of China (), based in Beijing, is China's national theatrical company, founded on December 25, 2001 with the merger of China National Youth Theater () and China National Experimental Theat ...

, as Chinese actors rehearse with African-American gospel singers. The film premiered at the

Santa Barbara International Film Festival The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) is an eleven-day film festival held in Santa Barbara, California since 1986. The festival boasts screenings of over 200 feature films and shorts from different countries and regions. SBIFF al ...

and won best documentary at the Ventura International Film Festival and the Tulsa International Film Festival. It was also nominated for the Viewfinders Grand Jury Prize at the 2011 DOC NYC Film Festival. Commentators called the film timely, noting it premiered in the lead-up to the unveiling of the

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial is a national memorial located in West Potomac Park next to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It covers and includes the ''Stone of Hope'', a granite statue of Civil Rights Movement le ...

in Washington, D.C.

References

External links

* * 2011 documentary films Films about Martin Luther King Jr. Human rights in China Documentary films about human rights Documentary films about China 2011 films American documentary films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films {{2010s-documentary-film-stub