Captain Elliot's Circle

Part documentary, part essay, and part narrative, Captain Elliot's Circle examines a little-known facet of Chinese-British history. Built around primary source documents recounting the capture of Zhoushan, Britain's initial harbor choice in the late 1830s, the film uses Captain Charles Elliot's hesitation to brutalize the Chinese as a lens for contemplating the cyclical forces of history and the power structures that propel them. Its sustained long takes reveal the markedly different ways mid-19th-century minds perceived time, while also exploring the psychological imprint of island life across eras. In the final act, a young woman whose unusual daytime occupation has carried her far from Zhoushan, generations after Elliot's last visit, drives the narrative forward. Captain Elliot's Circle was shot on location in Zhoushan and Hangzhou.