The Accidental Scholar

<jats:p>When I arrived at UCLA in 1981 on an exchange scheme from Leeds University in England, I had just completed a B.A. in Chinese Studies. Although it was as much my fault as anyone else’s, my B.A. had bored me and I had no intention of having anything more to do with China. But when one UCLA professor after another greeted me with, “Oh, you’re the guy that does Chinese film,” I realized it was not going to be that easy. Asked now to think about how I got into Chinese film and what it was like back then, I realize that my entire career has been a series of accidents -- lucky and otherwise.</jats:p>