Family Video Lab: Reframing Intimacy Through Living Archives
Presented by The Knot Collective

The camera is not just a recording tool, but has become a means of observation, of communication, and even a channel of memory that crosses generations.

The screening will focus on four Chinese documentary shorts initiated by FamilyLens, encouraging everyone to pick up a camera and record their own family stories. Through filming our families, we’re able to re-establish new ways of companionship, dialogue, and understanding.

These works present the many facets of family: the natural bonds brought by blood ties, the tensions between gender and generations, the collision between institutional structures and individual ways of life… Under the central theme of “home/family,” we continue to branch out into different sub-themes, delving into the complex relationships between people and their families, their relatives. These personal, intimate films, though not made by professionals, are still moving enough to touch the heart.

老吾姥 No Country for My Maternal Grandma | Bowen Chen | 2023 | 31mins

爱的语言 Language of Love | Qianzi | 12 mins

靠近她，以回归的心跳 Towards Her, the Heartbeat’s Return | Shuang Ma | 2025 | 22 mins

“好好听话” Listen Well | Qimei Gong | 2024 | 13 mins

June 28th 7pm-8.30pm
Centre 151, 151 Whiston Rd, London E2 8GU
Pay what you can afford: Eventbrite

About “Family Film Day · City Screening Program”: launched by FamilyLens, is a visual culture initiative using film as a bridge to family, emotion, and growth. It isn’t a fixed date but any moment when people gather to screen and discuss family films together. Creators document family life through their own lens, while audiences find resonance and reflection in others’ stories — bringing private experience into public space for shared understanding.

Programme supported by Film Hub London, managed by Film London. Proud to be a partner of the BFI Film Audience Network, funded by the National Lottery. www.filmlondon.org.uk/film-hub-london