Peking University, May 27, 2025: On Wednesday nights at Peking University, the PKU Hall glows with anticipation as students gather for Professor Dai Jinhua’s weekly film review. Standing on stage with a bouquet in hand, the 66-year-old scholar faces nearly two thousand attendees. Her voice is calm, her smile gentle: “As long as you need me, I will always be here.”


 
Born in Beijing in 1959, Dai was raised in a literary household — her mother was a language teacher, her father a passionate reader. 

At 19, she entered the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Peking University, thriving in its vibrant intellectual environment. 

She vividly recalls taking notes in Professor Lin Geng’s the Songs of Chu class until her fingers cramped, and debating fiercely with professors and classmates inside and outside of classrooms, calling these experiences “the true beginning of her life”.




After graduating in 1982, Dai made a decision to join the faculty of Beijing Film Academy out of a passion for reading and teaching, despite having little prior knowledge—or interest—in cinema. 

“I chose university not only because I could have more free time, but also because I thought mingling with young people could help me stay young in my heart.” Her transformation began when she helped organize a national workshop for university film instructors. In six months, she watched over a hundred classic films including Breathless, Wild Strawberries, the Seventh Seal, and the 400 Blows. 

She felt that she was “precipitated into a spiritual and visual feast”, bringing her an ecstatic euphoria beyond imagination. “I fell in love with movies,” she described that particular moment. Cinema soon became the center of her academic and emotional world.

“After watching Breathless, I was stunned speechless and awash with intense emotions. I wanted to run on the streets and scream to everybody, ‘this is my movie! I finally found my movie!’”



“What I found in these movies was something that resonated with every fiber of my being.”

Determined to understand film theory more deeply, Dai turned to English-language scholarship, laboriously taking notes in dark theaters using a pen fitted with a tiny lamp—an object still kept on her bookshelf today. “I never wanted to throw it away even though it’s been effaced.”

In 1987, she co-founded China’s first academic program in film history and theory, selecting and mentoring the inaugural cohort of students.

By 1993, Dai returned to Peking University with the invitation of Professor Le Daiyun, marking a new chapter in her academic journey. 

Inspired by Le’s interdisciplinary approach, Dai began to explore beyond European art cinema, turning her attention to Third World cinema and global popular culture. “Disciplinary boundaries are human constructions”, she often says, urging scholars to transcend such boundaries.



In the classroom, Dai is known for her engaging lectures. Her elective course on film review has been listed as a core course of PKU and is particularly popular. 

She rejects standardized answers, instead guiding students through fast-paced discussions on topics ranging from TikTok trends to AI-generated music, with the goal of bridging theory and contemporary reality. Since 2021, her lectures have been shared online, reaching millions of viewers. 

Dai’s intellectual life extends well beyond the university. 

Her co-authored book with Meng Yue, Emerging from the Horizon of History, remains a foundational text in Chinese feminist literary studies.



Over the past decade, she has also worked in rural development projects across China and conducted fieldwork in countries such as India and Brazil. 

Her life, much like her work, has a distinct film-like quality.

The passing of her mother in 2022 brought her face-to-face with aging, but she remains resolute in her belief in the “youthfulness of spirit”. 

“As long as I still have questions to ask”, she says, “I haven’t grown old.” 



She continues to teach, lecture, and participate in international exchanges with undiminished energy. 

Reflecting on her journey, she adds: “I’ve never been the kind of person who moves effortlessly through the world with practiced maturity—nor do I wish to be. I want to keep my childlike wonder, to admit what I don’t know, and just keep going—until death quietly arrives.”


Written by: Wu Hiuman
Edited by: Phoon Hui Yin, Andrena, Chen Shizhuo
Photo by: Wang Dongyu
GIF by: Tang Ruya
Source: Beijing Daily (Chinese)