LIVES TO DEATH( iPhone version )

Share|

Europe Asia Documentary Network EADN Interview

Golden Tiger Pictures : from "this winter" to "Lotus pool"

Questions to Changfu Zhang, producer and director, creator or Golden Tiger Pictures (Indonesia). 

July 9 at 12:49am 

How did you arrived into the doc world ? 

My film career started in the late of 1990's, just after I graduated from Beijing Film Academy.

Ten years ago, as a freelancer based in Beijing,I co - directed two feature length creative documentaries: "This winter" and "Haozi Mountain Mao". They were both selected in prestige international documentary film festivals such as Yamagata, Visions du Reel Nyon and Marseille.

"This winter" won the award of Best Debut in Marseille 2002 and was broadcasted on Arte France.

The two docs tends to be regarded as full independent productions without Co - production partners.

In 2008 a short doc about bali bombing was finished in three months.This doc was presented in 25th Market of International Short Film Festival Clermont-Ferrand.


Are you currently producing a documentary ? with a European partner ? 

My new project "Lotus Pool", a feature length creative doc, is still in pre - production stage.
This film follows the Reunion journey emerging from unexpected changes in current China mainland, in which a couple of teacher and student struggle to regain the the lost Innocence originated in the golden era of 1980’s after they undergoes twenty years of separation.

For achieving high quality with international market value,major European broadcasters like Arte France / Channel 4 as well as ITVS/ PBS are this doc's Co - production seeking partners.
One year long had been spent on the Research & Development of this Doc. 

What are u looking for in a cooperation with European producers / broadcasters ? 

Certain finance supporting the production of this HD Doc tends to be the main goal during cooperation, but more and more audience will be the most important thing relevant to this project , I think.
Although Pre - sale broadcasting rights to many regions seems to be tough in current situation, International Doc market is still stable !

Why did you called your company Golden Tiger Pictures

Very easy. I was born the year of Tiger !

Share |

<上海傳奇＞ 不 “ 傳奇 ”

I Wish I Knew (上海傳奇)

China
Documentary
Directed by Jia Zhangke (賈樟柯)

---

By Derek Elley

Tue, 18 May 2010, 01:07

---

Documentary on Shanghai looks handsome but isn't revelatory or dramatic enough to sustain 2 1/4 hours. TV, beyond some festivals drawn by Jia Zhangke's name.

Story

Eighteen people connected with Shanghai, including eight filmmakers, provide personal reminiscences on the city's history, people and culture.

Review

Though the Chinese title of Jia Zhangke's documentary roughly means "Shanghai Stories", the English title sums up its blurry focus much better. In the same way as in two of Jia's previous documentaries (24 City 二十四城記, Useless 無用), there's a sense in I Wish I Knew of the director not having many ideas himself on his subject and just serving up familiar material or letting the camera roll on during interviews. Many of the latter are way too discursive and could easily be trimmed, helping to bring the running time down to a more sustainable 110 minutes max. And what is especially noticeable is that some of the documentary's best material comes from the interviews with filmmakers: it's a society in which Jia is clearly more at home and more knowledgeable.

These interviews, which dominate the second half of the film, will be of some interest to movie buffs, especially as Shanghai was the centre of Mainland film production until the '50s. Taiwan director Wang Toon (王童) recalls being evacuated from Shanghai by boat in '49 when his father was still fighting for the Nationalists at the front; onetime model worker Huang Baomei (黃寶美) is seen playing herself in clips from Xie Jin's (謝晉) 1958 biopic; actress Wei Wei (韋偉) talks about working on Fei Mu's legendary Spring in a Small Town (小城之春) in 1948; and Shanghai-born actress Rebecca Pan (潘迪華), seen in Wong Kar-wai's (王家衛) Days of Being Wild (阿飛正傳), still summons up a long past era of Shanghai grandes dames. But where is Shanghai's most famous emigre son, Wong himself? And does Taiwan's Hou Hsiao-hsien (侯孝賢) briefly talking about his Flowers of Shanghai (海上花) have a real place in Jia's documentary? (Hou's connection is only tangential: though born on the Mainland, he did not grow up in Shanghai.)

Though Shanghai was the centre of Mainland film production from the '20s to '50s, the bias towards filmmaker interviews unbalances the documentary. Though the early interviewees - painter Chen Danqing (陳丹青) on growing up amid street gangs during the '50s, Yang Xiaofo (楊小佛) witnessing his father's 1933 assassination by KMT gangsters, Du Meiru (杜美如) on her father Du Yuesheng (杜月笙), the city's most famous pre-PRC gangster - rapidly sketch in some historical and social background, it's not until two hours in that Jia interviews anyone from the financial world (T-bond trader Yang Huaiding 楊懷定), one of the city's economic tentpoles.

The film's hit-and-miss structure is mitigated by its best quality: regular d.p. Nelson Yu's (余力為) superbly evocative widescreen photography of Shanghai in all its contradictions and different faces. Occasional shots of Jia's favourite actress Zhao Tao (趙濤) wandering round the city as "an eternally wandering soul" (and even managing to get wet in a clingy white T-shirt) should have been left on the cutting-room floor.

Share

NEW PROJECT: LOTUS POOL

 This project is a creative feature length documentary. 

     " Reunion " is its English title.  

                               ( Photography by Wenjing Mao )

                
It was presented in the 1st Asian Side of the Doc - Sunny Side of the Doc 

( World Leading Market for International Documentaries )  

during Hong Kong International Film & TV Market ( FILMART ). 

   

    










































































                   

Meeting Masters 相遇大師

Meeting Masters of Filmmaking

2005 相遇大師

Rubby muller<< Paris ,Texas >> Aline Bonetto << Amelie >>

When I talked to my admired D.P, Rubby muller,

he wrapped his favorite cigarette and thought how to

answer my question of “ Super 16mm Blowup to 35mm “.

He said that the time of wrapping is too short to reply

adequately !

Remembrance of Mongkok

Remembrance of Mongkok

旺角記憶

The right photos were taken at Platform of Mongkok Hong kong in this Jan. My first trip to H.K was departed from China mainland in 2003, when I took high speed train from Luo hu, Shen zhen to this Station on the mid night of Valentine's Day.

Wong kaiwei's work: <>

<< 旺角卡門 >>, which shot

in locations of this region in 1988.

What I unexpected is that this station

had emerged as my new start spot.

Director's Statement of << Lives to Death >>導演闡述

LIVES TO DEATH

Director’s Statement

I flied to Jakarta from Beijing via Guangzhou in the next month of 2002 Bali Bombings killed more than 200 persons from 22 countries. During the following two years the other sudden twice Blasts in Jakarta crossed my journey in Southeast Asia.

Until now I have been living in West Java for 6 years, these series of unexpected terror accidents shaped my life experience originated in a State running farm in China mainland as well as purified my own thoughts on humans and the world.

When I studied filmmaking in Beijing Film Academy in late 1990’s, Human nature and Truth were top issues explored in many classes despite the ruling of the world largest Communist Regime. As a independent filmmaker, making films concerned with Humanity and Reality is my consistent Ambition.

Due to its unique religion --- Hindu Buddha, Bali is distinct from the most regions of Indonesia dominated by Muslims.

So as what Balinese say: “ Java ( Main island in Indonesia ) is very complicated ! When I landed in the Heaven island in 2004, its native gentle music soften my emotions.

After sightseeing of some interests in Bali, Legian street ( Bombing location ) was converted into major shooting location of this subjective documentary, especially the Black statue enclosed with two Ruins. Although the road is both active and crowded, the isolable blast spots are still and idle. Prior to the tragedy, this area had ever been the zones of Nightclubs --- Happy Place ! The statue sculpted the full names of every victims is likely to be the logo of the street, which suggests Rising of the Fallen lives. The special mood of this space inspired my passions for shooting the earth day by day in spite of the heated weather. I proposed to achieve images offering insights into “ the Surface of Reality “.

While Framing the shots of scenes, my Handycam tended to perform the role of “ a Survivor ” more than “ the Narrator “ of this film and the wreckage was supposed to be “ Lively Actors “ rather than “ Deadly things “. Low Angle position widely used revealed the perspective of this film to convey the feeling of Mercy. Although the Narrative of this Documentary looks unemotional, I tried to create a style of camera movements, which weaves some emotions into the film’s Rhythm. So the motivation of camerawork is not “ Observation the Death ”, but “ Touching the Lives “.

Last year’s fall, I initiated this film’s editing procedures based Apple’s Final Cut Studio 2. It took one month of capturing raw material of 240 minutes to get preferred moments of meaningful. Cutting piece by piece into rhythmic flows of scenes is my creative process, which reveals time and space bit by bit. Since the theme of this film is “ LIFE “, Relating sequences of Memorial to other ones of Lively things scenes comes to be the main consideration of editing footage. The conflict between Westerns and Extreme Muslims is a different issue, meanwhile it is just what I want to moderate as much as possible in this film. This documentary purposes to stand at the level of All Human beings of the world, While not stay at the status of clashes of religions, races. So structuring the film mostly emerges from the juxtaposition of scenes of lives and destruction.

Due to creating the cycles of tension and release, many other scenes off Legian Street : Kuta Beach, Temple, Praying, Coffee plant and Roast, Kids playing ...... are counterpointed by the ones of Paying tribute and the Ruins. With the progression of time, the frames of shots within this film are gradually loosen, this development of vision what I tried aspires the release of emotions by this way.

With regard to the particular atmosphere of this film, the sound design tends to be noiseless and mild.

Except for the FX which intensifies the mood of bombing , other sounds in sync with images derive from live locations.

What I prefer is as softhearted, smooth and natural as the music of Bali, which may weave tributes into the “ Land of Happiness “ and devote the endless love to “ the people in Paradise “ !

http://www.clermont-filmfest.com/index.php?m=246&c=3&id_film=100082013&o=177

Changfu Zhang

Jakarta, July 16 2009

Golden tiger pictures 2009 Production