معرفی
Dr. Kiki Tianqi Yu is a Senior Lecturer in Film at Queen Mary University of London's School of Languages, Linguistics and Film, where she contributes significantly to both teaching and research. She serves as a core faculty member in Film Studies, convening modules including FLM4205 Decolonising Approaches to Film Analysis and FLM7216 Creative Documentary.
Her academic journey began with an MPhil in social political science at Cambridge University, followed by doctoral research on documentary film and personal cinema with a focus on China at CREAM, University of Westminster. Her educational background has shaped her interdisciplinary approach that bridges film studies with cultural sociology and philosophy.
Dr. Yu's research explores three interconnected strands: cinema through eastern philosophies (particularly Daoism), documentary film and nonfiction practices from non-western perspectives, and women's cinema across Asia. Her work challenges Western-centric film theory by constructing comparative dialogues with film phenomenology and posthumanist thinking through Daoist philosophy. She examines how philosophies in non-western cultures enhance our understanding of global cinema, with particular attention to ethical considerations in documentary filmmaking.
Her scholarly output reveals consistent focus on decolonizing film studies, with recent publications examining Daoism's conceptual capacity to expand how we experience moving images and intervene in Western-centered post-humanist theorization of cinema. Her work demonstrates increasing engagement with environmental humanities, East Asian art history, and feminist studies.
- 8 awards for documentary 'China's van Goghs' (2016)
- Best Audience's award at Royal Anthropology Institution Film Festival 2021 for 'Two Lives of Li Ermao'
- Keynote speaker at European Network for Cinema and Media Studies (NECS) annual conference 2018
- Founding co-convener of BAFTSS East Asian Screen Cultures Special Interest Group
Dr. Yu actively supervises PhD students on diverse topics including embodied trauma in women's filmmaking, psychogeography in Chinese cinematic cities, and representations of space in Asian slow cinema. Her curatorial projects such as 'Dancing with Water: Women's cinema from contemporary China' (2024) demonstrate her commitment to promoting underrepresented voices. She has produced significant documentary works including 'China's van Goghs' (2016), which received international distribution and critical acclaim in publications like Hollywood Reporter and Artnet, and 'Two Lives of Li Ermao' (2019), which premiered at IDFA.
Her leadership extends to organizing film seasons and festivals, including 'The Spirit of Mountains and Water: Gao Shiqiang's Moving Image Art through Cosmological Thinking' at BLOC (London 2023), reflecting her commitment to connecting Eastern philosophical traditions with contemporary moving image practices.
