Campus staffer Ning Wan is passionate about sharing her Chinese culture.

Wan

She has led a Chinese language school in Davis and performed Chinese dance in the community. Her latest venture, the Davis Chinese Film Foundation, will present its inaugural film festival from Sept. 27 through Oct. 26.

UC Davis is hosting the opening ceremony and screening, followed by a panel discussion, in conjunction with the Confucius Institute at UC Davis' celebration of Global Confucius Institute Day at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. Read news release.

"It's about cultural exchange," said Wan, who has worked on campus for 17 years and manages information technology for the Institute of Transportation Studies and the Energy Efficiency Center.

Wan, who came to the United States from her native China in 1990, got involved with the NewStar Chinese School in Davis because she wanted her son and daughter, now in their 20s, to be able to speak Mandarin and appreciate their cultural heritage. From 2007 to 2013, she served as volunteer principal at the school, which offers Chinese language courses on Sundays.

For more than 10 years, she has performed traditional Chinese dance with the local Rainbow Dance Group. One year, the group danced at the campus's Thank Goodness for Staff picnic.

Wan has always enjoyed Chinese films, but her interest in sharing culture through film was sparked when she met Chinese director Limin Zhou, who is doing a documentary about how Chinese workers helped build the transcontinental railroad.

Now Wan serves as co-chair of the film foundation, formed just this year. Advisers to the foundation include UC Davis staff member Linxia Liang of University Outreach and International Programs and the Confucius Institute at UC Davis; Joe Krovoza of the Institute of Transportation Studies and the Energy Efficiency Center as well as former mayor of the city of Davis; Zhongli Pan, adjunct professor, Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering; and state Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada of Davis.

The foundation put together a program of contemporary Chinese films with the advice of Chengzhi Chu, an associate professor of East Asian languages and cultures.

"We want people to get to know modern China," Wan said. "We want to give an overview of how Chinese people live now."

Wan is especially proud that the new festival has been included in Across the Pacific: China Arts Festival, a celebration of Chinese culture that is sponsored by the Chinese consulate general in San Francisco.

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