How did you start this project. How long did it take from the initial idea to have it finished?

 

I started this project because of my grandmother. After I went to college, she was diagnosed with an incurable disease, and she fell into depression. She began to believe in all kinds of religions and deities, thinking that only they could save her. But gradually she realized that nothing worked, so she started bringing those deities into our daily lives, praying for us day and night. That deeply moved me. I began to see that her faith had shifted from believing in gods to believing in herself, or rather, giving up on herself. I remembered how she used to take me to a fortune-teller when I was little to choose my name, as a way of blessing me. Now she still believes that those deities can protect me, but she has already given up on herself. That blessing on me feels like a kind of original sin in many Asian families; it turns everyone into her, and that faith gradually becomes a faith in sacrifice. So I decided to create a magical-realist world seen through the eyes of someone like her, as a way to reflect on this phenomenon.

I spent about two years preparing this project. I had the structure of the story and what I wanted to express figured out early on, but the shooting location (my hometown) was going through radical changes. Because of new land policies, almost everyone demolished their old houses and rebuilt them, so I had to wait a long time. I also ended up incorporating those changes in the village into the film itself.

 

 

Has it been a self-financed project or did you find private financing?

 

This has been a self‑financed project. I did not seek private financing.

 

Many filmmakers finance the entire project, finishing it in their spare time while studying or working etc. This makes it a very wear-and-tear process and takes a long time to finish. Even many of these projects never end up being assembled. In your case, how has the process been?

 

I faced the same challenges. I completed the filming of this movie during my undergraduate studies. At the same time, I was also shooting short films and variety projects for my school. My university is in Shanghai, but the filming location was in Beijing, so I frequently traveled between the two cities, which made the early stages of the project very slow. However, because I was very familiar with the entire shooting location, after finishing the script, I had already made 3D storyboards and drawn storyboards for the whole film. When I went location scouting with the director of photography, we discussed and revised the shots based on my storyboards, which allowed the entire shoot to be completed smoothly within three days.

 

 

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At what point is the project in terms of festivals? Tell us a little about your experience in festivals and what you expect from festivals for this project.

 

I have already submitted the project to a number of short film festivals. My expectation is that, with a few selections and screenings, I can use the momentum to expand this short into a feature film. At the very least, I hope the festival exposure will help open doors for my next short film project.

 

Tell us the best moment and the worst experienced during the process of finishing the project.

 

The best moment for me was that this was my first time filming a movie in my hometown, and also my first time making a film with my family. At that time, the whole village was rebuilding houses because of land policies, so I was essentially shooting with a camera on a site that looked like ruins. Among all the scenes, the most important one involved a journey through the mountains. Originally that location was covered with dilapidated garbage piles. When my mother learned that we would shoot there, she went alone one morning and cleaned up all the garbage. That made me feel both incredulous and deeply moved. So for me, this was an unforgettable moment.

 

The worst experience during the shooting happened when we were filming a rain scene. The water truck broke down, which caused the entire crew to wait for nearly an hour. That seriously delayed our schedule. I felt an unprecedented amount of pressure, yet I was completely helpless to do anything about it.

 

Do you have any other project in mind? If so, can you tell us something?

 

Yes, I have another short film project in mind. It is currently in the script stage. The story is about a zookeeper who wants to die. He accidentally discovers a gorilla that can speak. The gorilla tells him that in its next life it will become a human, and it asks the keeper to kill it before the keeper commits suicide. So the keeper visits the gorilla every day to confide in it, struggling between life and death. Finally, one day, he kills the gorilla, which is actually a projection of his own delusions.

 

What do you expect from a film festival? Where do you think they should improve?

 

I believe that in addition to bringing audiences and creators closer together, film festivals should give filmmakers more opportunities to produce their other films. They should offer more masterclasses or chances to connect with producers. They should also arrange multiple touring screenings of the selected films in different locations.

 

 

Now we would like to know more about you.

 

How did you start in the cinema?

 

When I was in primary school, I was very interested in movies. Every weekend I would go to the cinema with my family. At that time, I always bought a magazine called "Watch Movie" to help me choose which films to see. One day I brought that magazine to school. My classmates swarmed around me and grabbed it to borrow, and I felt very proud. Even my homeroom teacher came to borrow it. I handed it over without hesitation, and that issue, which I had not even flipped through yet, ended up passing through many hands. Then, during a lunch break one day, my teacher walked into the classroom with the magazine. She told me that after discussion among the senior teachers, this magazine could no longer be brought to school because it contained pictures of naked women. However, she said I would not be punished; I just needed to put it in my schoolbag and not take it out again. At that moment my face turned red and I could not say a word. At the time I also had a girlfriend in that class, and she immediately stood up to defend me, saying that the magazine belonged to my father and that I had just brought it without knowing. The whole class burst into laughter. In the midst of that laughter, I was having a deep internal struggle. I finally decided that my father's reputation could not be wrongfully accused in the fourth grade, Class 6 classroom. So I jumped up and shouted, "This magazine is for my own reading." Instantly the classroom fell silent. Everyone stared at me, and their gazes made me feel burning hot all over. I felt as if I had no clothes on either, but at that moment I was not standing naked in front of the class; I was standing naked in front of cinema. That was the most honest moment of my life. From that moment on, I knew I would definitely pursue a career in the film industry. After that, I began preparing for the art school entrance exams and was admitted to the Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts for further study.

 

How do you define yourself as a filmmaker? Your best virtue and your worst flaw?

 

I define myself as a filmmaker who cares deeply about social issues. This is related to my ongoing work in documentary filmmaking. I believe that a good film can influence the world and can give a voice to certain groups. My best virtue is that I pay close attention to the script and storyboard creation in the pre-production phase. I think content is the core of the entire film. In addition, I believe that filmmaking is like scientific research; there must always be something new, whether it is innovation in narrative or exploration in audiovisual language. They are all essential. My worst flaw is that I lack some knowledge in film technology. I seldom pay attention to new shooting equipment. However, I am about to pursue a graduate degree in film production to fill that gap.

 

What percentage do you dedicate to?

-Production/location:20%

-Work with actors:15%

-Planning of the shots with the director of photography:25%

-Art/costume:5%

-Sound design:15%

-Editing:15%

-Soundtrack:5%

 

Tell me three favorite movies. And directors?

 

My three favorite movies are "A Brighter Summer Day", "La Chimera", and "A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence". I think "A Brighter Summer Day" brilliantly captures the failure of idealists in Eastern families. That observation of society deeply impresses me, and it also makes me nostalgic for my childhood. I also really like "La Chimera" because of its rich imagination; the innovation in its audiovisual language has taught me a great deal. Finally, I love "A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence". It is such a unique film that left a strong impression on me. It was the first time I realized that a film could be like that.

 

My favorite directors are Edward Yang, Alice Rohrwacher, and Roy Andersson. Among them, I especially appreciate Edward Yang's screenwriting and his handling of character blocking; Alice Rohrwacher's audiovisual approach to magical realism; and Roy Andersson's treatment of the relationship between characters and settings.

 

For you, a good movie should have:

 

For me, a good movie should possess imagination, a distinctive way of storytelling, creative breakthroughs in cinematic language, and a meaningful connection to social issues.