Katherine DU Qian is a PhD student at the City University of Hong Kong, School of Creative Media. Her research interests span cross-cultural Sinophone Cinema, feminist film theories, short films, World War II Sinophone history, and the cultural tourism industry. Katherine graduated with an English literature degree in her undergraduate studies and earned her MA in creative writing, focusing on the American Flying Tigers’ trajectory in China during World War II. Prior to pursuing her PhD at CityUHK, Katherine spent five years working in the Chinese film industry. She was the jury secretary at the Pingyao International Film Festival (2018, 2019, 2021), coordinator and jury member of the Short Film- Golden Goblet Award at the Shanghai International Film Festival (2019, 2023, 2024), director of short film Bingyan (2019), and assistant producer in several film projects. 

Currently, Katherine is working on her dissertation project, focusing on cross-cultural women film pioneers in early Sinophone Cinema. This project aims to create a unique historiography of women filmmakers in Sinophone film history. It will investigate their diasporic experience in a historical context and the cultural convergence during their transnational film productions. Meanwhile, Katherine continues supporting young talents’ filmmaking through various international activities.