Photo courtesy of the artist

2:30pm – 3:00pm
Popo Fan – The VaChina Monologues (China, 2013)
28 minutes | Elebash Recital Hall
Chinese with English subtitles

The Chinese Department of Sun Yat-sen University (Guangzhou) staged the Chinese debut of The Vagina Monologues in Dec. 2003. Since then, this feminist play, which came from the US and has been committed to the elimination of gender-based violence, had incited a vagina hurricane that blew all over mainland China. Theatre groups at Zhihe Society of Fudan University, Shanghai Beaver Club, Beijing Bcome Group, performed this play in various stagings–on campuses, in theatres, in cafes, on the streets, and on public transportation. The Vagina Monologues received many Chinese names: Cloudy Vagina, Our Vaginas, OurSelves, and For Vagina’s Sake. All these names have the same so-called “ear-piercing” key word—VAGINA.

Photo courtesy of the artist

FAN Popo graduated from the prestigious Beijing Film Academy is the author of the book Happy Together: Complete Record of a Hundred Queer Films, the first book published in mainland China on queer films. His films featured topics such as same sex marriage (New Beijing, New Marriage), transgender (Be A Woman), and feminism (The VaChina Monologues). His trilogy Chinese Closet, Mama Rainbow, Papa Rainbow, focusing on LGBT families in China, had made strong impact on the Chinese society. Moreover, after Chinese authorities took down Mama Rainbow from the Internet after the film received one million viewership, Popo filed a lawsuit against the government and won the case, which was a landmark event in fighting against state censorship. His tireless working on LGBT visibility also includes serving as organizer for the Beijing Queer Film Festival, as well as founder of Queer University Video Training Camp.