Red Carpet: China, Hollywood, and the Global Battle for Cultural Supremacy

Who decides what films appear at your local theater or on your TV screen? Would you guess Xi Jinping, autocratic President of the People’s Republic of China? Wall Street Journal film industry reporter Erich Schwartzel and veteran China watcher and journalist Orville Schell will take you behind the screen where films are the weapons in a battle for cultural power between China and the United States. Schwartzel’s deeply reported page-turner, Red Carpet, “is the story of the nexus that formed when Hollywood realized it needed China’s cash, and China realized it could first manipulate—and then appropriate—Hollywood’s special gifts,” said The New York Times. Come learn about a Cold War for this century, a clash that determines whether democratic or authoritarian values will be broadcast most powerfully around the world. “Like a great movie,” said Ben Rhodes, “this book is hugely entertaining and changes the way you look at the world.”

The bookstore partner for this session is Sausalito Books By The Bay! Buy the books online at Bookshop.org or purchase them in person at the Festival. More information here.

Book signing information: Sausalito Books by the Bay tent in the park, 3:45 PM