This PhD project examines the cultural dimensions of China’s flagship geopolitical initiative—the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Rather than offering a comprehensive account of a meticulously planned project, the focus lies in how the BRI is continually derailed, particularly through its negotiation and contestation within the cinematic sector.

To trace these derailments, the project first situates the BRI within China’s broader globalization strategy from a cultural perspective. By exploring why the initiative is named after the ancient Silk Road, it reveals how the BRI embodies China’s new imagination of globalization. Building on this premise, the project also anwser why such a new vision of globalization is so strongly desired — highlighting a shift in the country’s cultural confidence.

Although China’s imagined globalization may appear coherent in official discourse, my research also shows how it becomes fragmented in practice. For instance, at events such as the Silk Road International Film Festival, state narratives are met with competing actors pursuing their own agendas. I argue that such derailments are not only common but inevitable. In today’s globalized world, China must frequently negotiate and compromise. It is precisely these moments of negotiation, contestation, and creative resistance that form the heart of this study.