In the Director's Chair
Take a closer look at three women behind the camera.
Li Hong
Home:Shanghai
Age:32
Yunnan New Film Project (YNFP) movie:The Big and the Little. An American soldier befriends a Chinese boy during World War II.
Bio:A graduate of the Beijing Film Academy, she directed her first featurelength
film at age 24. Her latest feature was screened at the 2005 Tokyo International Film Festival.
Women of China (WOC):Is there anything about directing that makes it a particularly difficult field for women?
Li:My family didn't agree (to let) me to go to the Beijing Film Academy at first,
but I loved it and they respected my choice. I think, though, that a female director will
face the same difficulties as a male director. So it's not a big problem.
WOC:Why did you decide to make a film about World War II?
Li:I make films out of curiosity. The war in the film is just the background. The film is still about people's emotions. Regardless of the past or the present, human emotion is a stable condition. That's what I care about. All of my films are about people.
Xiao Jiang
Home:Beijing
Age:34
YNFP movie:Pu'er Tea. Three women, each from a different generation, meet by chance at a tea ceremony.
Bio:After graduating from the Beijing Film Academy, Xiao's big break came in 2003, when she wrote and directed the award-winning film "Electric Shadows."
WOC:How did you select the film you are directing for the project?
Xiao:I got the idea of making a film about Pu'er tea when I was in Yunnan for this project. Pu'er tea is a drinkable antique. It has the feeling of history. Also, people enjoy tea worldwide. Tea or coffee? This is the first choice we make every day. Also in China, there are few films about eating.
WOC:So far in your career, what challenges have you faced as a woman director?
Xiao:Overseas, people think it's difficult to be a female director. But I think if you have innate talent you will be a good female director. The competition to become a director is very brutal no matter if you are male or female.
Cao Fei
Home:Guangzhou
Age:28
YNFP movie:Bloggers' Journey tothe West. Three young men, tired of life in the city, escapeto Yunnan.
Bio:Although she never studied film, Cao Fei has been making short movies and documentaries since 1999. The modern artist's works range from performance art to photography.
WOC:This is your first feature-length film. What do you think will be challenging about making a long movie?
Cao:The biggest challenge is that I must tell a story in 90 minutes. I needed to find a simple story that I could also use to explain people's thoughts and feelings.
WOC:How did you choose the topic for your movie?
Cao:I have many friends who were born in the 1980s. I've discovered that this generation has a sharp understanding of society and seldom hides its feelings. These young people are very brave, fun and independent. I know some young people who have traveled to Yunnan to escape daily life. I think it is an interesting phenomenon.
Challenges Ahead
Lola selected both up-and-coming directors and women from a mixture of fields-including modern artist Cao Fei, poet Yin Lichuan and composer Yu Jiangying. Lola doubts their lack of experience will hinder them. The key to producing a good film, she asserts, is finding a creative director and surrounding her with a skilled, professional crew. So far, with just two films shot and a third underway, Lola's vision has been challenged slightly by male crewmembers who don't trust female directors' decisions. "Men have many prejudices. If a woman is young and beautiful, they will think she can't do anything," said Yi.
Despite the challenges, Lola's project has yet to encounter its toughest obstacle. After filming and editing are completed at end of 2007, she must find a way to promote the films.
Independent movies don't often wind up on the marquee of China's cinemas. So Lola is brainstorming nontraditional ways to ensure people see the films, such as renting a 10-screen cinema to show one movie on each screen and putting the movies on-line.
Regardless of which option she chooses, it's unlikely another hurdle will stump the unrelenting Lola. "There must be someone who will do this, to help the young directors get experience and funding. But no one will, so we will," she said.
