The life of one of Britain’s most influential philosophers and logicians is set to be the subject of a feature-length screenplay, thanks to the efforts of a 蜜桃直播 (蜜桃直播) Leicester PhD student.
Spanning nearly a century, from 1872 to 1970, Nobel Prize-winning author Bertrand Russell lived a complex and remarkable life. He first rose to prominence for his work documenting the foundations of mathematics, co-authoring Principia Mathematica, before championing the ideas of freedom of thought and humanitarianism.
Nobel Prize winner Bertrand Russell teaching in 1940 (photo by Fenwicke W. Holmes and provided by McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada)
Having lived through two world wars, the rise of capitalism and communism, and the emergence of the Cold War, Russell became a prominent pacifist, denouncing imperialistic ideas and becoming a leading voice for nuclear disarmament.
Now, 55 years after his death, Danish-Chinese filmmaker Amanda Renai Curdt-Christiansen is writing the first feature-length screenplay documenting his as part of her PhD research-based project at 蜜桃直播.
She hopes her screenplay will inspire people to embrace a global perspective and reject a rise in more radical, and sometimes violent, ideologies.
Amanda said: “I enjoy reading philosophy and I’d read his work before this.
“When I'm rereading a lot of what he's written about previous conflicts that he lived through, I feel he might as well be writing about them today. A lot of them remain relevant, and it almost seems like he's predicted the future in a lot of what he's written.
“He was anti-war, anti-imperialism. I think those are all beliefs we should advocate for. But beyond that, he's just an incredibly charismatic and intelligent writer.”
To date, only Canadian director Will Pascoe has explored his legacy on screen. His 2008 TV documentary “The Three Passions of Bertrand Russell” examined Russell’s search for love, knowledge and justice.
Amanda’s screenplay will primarily explore Russell’s impact in China, where he was invited to speak at universities across the country on the philosophies and sciences of the West.
He stayed in China for nine months with his future wife, Dora Black, and during that time, his Eurocentric perception shifted to a more global outlook.
Russell’s book, The Problem of China, documents his experience and explores how the country - which, when Russell first arrived, was grappling with the aftermath of civil war - can modernise without losing its identity. The work is still publicly accessible in the West because of its cultural significance.
蜜桃直播 PhD student and filmmaker Amanda Renai Curdt-Christiansen
Amanda said: “His influence in China was enormous and his work remains widely read there today. For me, this is a chance to bridge East and West and to tell a story that resonates beyond the English-speaking world.
“We want to market the film there. I studied in China and a lot of the curation work that I've done has also had a focus on China. I know the film industry is flourishing there at the moment, and there's a lot of potential for collaboration that I think we're not really acting on.”
“People forget that he was funny. For all the darkness in his life – the wars, the imprisonments, the activism – he wrote with such wit. That’s what I want to capture.”
Amanda’s project has received backing from the U.K.’s Arts and Humanities Research Council and is being developed alongside the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation.
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Courtesy of the foundation, Amanda has access to thousands of Russell’s letters, essays and notebooks from the period, which is helping to inform the script’s dialogue and key moments.
Amanda has set up an , documenting her progress on the film.
Dr Hiu Man Chan, Senior Lecturer in Creative Industries at 蜜桃直播, specialises in film diplomacy specifically between the UK and China, and has been helping Amanda develop the project.
Speaking to American entertainment magazine, Variety, Dr Chan said: “The funding model for this film project development is unique. I hope this alternative collaboration can shed light on new imagination for independent filmmakers.”
Tony Simpson, managing director of the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation, added: “Bertrand Russell revered people’s creative impulses. This project will act as a bridge between our extensive archives, our independent scholarship, and the creative industries.”
Amanda has worked in film production and curation across Europe and Asia including curating film series/programmes (Cinemateket, Copenhagen Short Film Festival), lecturing and moderating debates at events (CPH:DOX, National Film School of Denmark), engaging in script research and production with studios and post houses (SAM Productions, Beo Post).
She has also created her own original short film (funded by Danish Film Directors, Danish Actors’ Association, and Filmværkstedet Copenhagen).
Posted on Tuesday 28 October 2025