Bringing King to China

“Bringing King to China” is award-winning journalist Kevin McKiernan’s “love letter” to his adult daughter, Caitrin, a young American woman teaching in China. Frustrated by the ineffectuality of her protests against the Iraq War, McKiernan decides to take a different form of action by producing a play about King (Clayborne Carson’s “Passages of Martin Luther King”) and presenting it to Chinese audiences. Documenting a cross-cultural dialogue about the current relevance of King’s philosophy of peace and nonviolence – to both China and the U.S. – “Bringing King to China” chronicles McKiernan’s 12-month struggle to adapt King’s message for Chinese society. Powerful and intimate, the film takes American viewers backstage at the National Theatre of China, as Chinese actors rehearse with African-American gospel singers and McKiernan’s collaborators spar over artistic decisions and historical interpretations. Oscar® winner Haskell Wexler was among the film’s cinematographers.