Meet award-winning filmmaker Tianpeng Yao, and watch his new documentary The Way of Zen.
The Way of Zen is a 65-minute film that explores how Zen philosophy can be expressed through cinematic audiovisual language. It follows two Zen practitioners, Hanling and Junayde, along two parallel paths of Zen practice, a walking meditation in Northern Ireland, and a martial arts journey at China's Shaolin Temple. Together they reveal Zen as a lived experience of mindfulness, discipline, and inner awareness.
Through the absence of dialogue and explanatory narration, the film employs long takes, slow pacing, blank-leaving compositions, low shutter speed, and immersive ambient sound to create a beautiful, contemplative viewing experience.
Rather than explaining Zen, The Way of Zen invites audiences to enter a meditative cinematic space, encouraging sensory awareness, reflection, and a direct experience of stillness, presence, and impermanence.
After the screening, join in a discussion with the filmmaker and RAS Council Chair, Professor James Miller, on the nature of Zen philosophy, and its contemporary representation in China and the United Kingdom.
Agenda
Discussion and Q and A With the Filmmaker
Speakers
Tianpeng Yao
Tianpeng Yao received his PhD in Film Studies from Queen’s University Belfast and holds a Master’s degree from University College London. His research and creative practice explore the audio-visual representation of Eastern philosophical concepts and symbols. His documentary film The Road to Kung Fu received the Best Long Video Award at the 2023 United Nations Chinese Language Day & Third Chinese Language Video Festival. His experimental documentary Zen’s Faraway Verse received the Runner-up Award at the 2025 BAFTSS Practice Awards, presented by the British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies. His documentary Junayde’s Kung Fu Dream was awarded Best Documentary Work in the Short Video Unit at the 16th Beijing International Film Festival. Tianpeng currently serves as Chair of the Eutopia Arthouse Film Festival, a platform dedicated to supporting emerging filmmakers and fostering cultural exchange between Eastern and Western cinematic traditions.
Speakers
James Miller
Vice President and Council Chair of RAS China in Shanghai
James Miller is Professor of Humanities and Associate Dean at Duke Kunshan University. He is known worldwide as a scholar of Daoism, China's indigenous religion and has published numerous books, essays and articles on Chinese philosophy and religion.
Tianpeng Yao
Tianpeng Yao received his PhD in Film Studies from Queen’s University Belfast and holds a Master’s degree from University College London. His research and creative practice explore the audio-visual representation of Eastern philosophical concepts and symbols. His documentary film The Road to Kung Fu received the Best Long Video Award at the 2023 United Nations Chinese Language Day & Third Chinese Language Video Festival. His experimental documentary Zen’s Faraway Verse received the Runner-up Award at the 2025 BAFTSS Practice Awards, presented by the British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies. His documentary Junayde’s Kung Fu Dream was awarded Best Documentary Work in the Short Video Unit at the 16th Beijing International Film Festival. Tianpeng currently serves as Chair of the Eutopia Arthouse Film Festival, a platform dedicated to supporting emerging filmmakers and fostering cultural exchange between Eastern and Western cinematic traditions.
Sponsors and Partners
Tickets
RAS China Institutional Member
RMB 70
Standard Price
Buy TicketMax. 5 tickets per RAS Institutional member. Includes one drink per ticket.