Brief of CIFF6 Documentary Forum

13th Oct 2009, afternoon, the documentary forum of the CIFF6 was hold in NIVA, with the topic “why we shoot”. Nominated director in CIFF6 documentary part, representative of scholars and media attended the forum. Host by Liu Zhu from the Ying Di studio, Shen Xiao Ping ,the jury and Hao Jian, professor of BFA. Here is the brief from their speech regarding the question “Why the directors shoot Documentary films”

For the rightness and also for myself

Liuzhu who quit the job at the TV station and become an independent film maker begin the conversation. As she said, so many directors choose documentary as their way to take care the dignity, hope and fear of the individual. They are more sentimental on the society and more interested in the democracy.Lin Xin, the director of 《San Li Dong》said, documentary is everything in his life. When he try to make the film in a more realistic way, he was facing his own struggle. “Finally I take it,” he said, “the documentary do not need a directory, it need you keep yourself down and let live slowly show everything that you never know”.Lin Hang, the other director, think it is the personal reason for him to make documentary. He began to record his own life by diary, camera and notebook every day since he was in the junior. “Those are my treasures,” he said, and put a lot of his own experience in his movie《Arhat》. “I always shoot for myself”, he said.

Be a tough man

It is always a problem to deal with your object in making a film, but it becomes more complicated when it came to the documentary. Wei A Ting told us once when he made the film 《You and Me》, the local community was hoping to get a better life if the director can make the film an international success, which is obviously an one side dream. It became a bigger moral challenge to the director when their actors where in the danger. Hao Jian think it is a bottom line of every director to keep his actors life-save, While Xu Tong, on the other side, said he was rather be a more tough man when he met the challenge.

Independent Film needs audience as well

Ke Feng, the director of 《Ba Bai Bang》point out that most documentary made today was more like a collection of raw materials, the director intended to neglect the audience to identify them as independent film maker. “You cannot ask your audience to sit there and watch your 《Karamay》for five hours”, he said, “even independent films need audience, otherwise you do not have to show them”. But Zhang Zan Bo strongly established his position when he made the film《Falling from the Sky》. He think a director like himself would never think about anybody else when making the documentary, “I choose to lose the audience rather than lose myself”.

The discussion going on

The directors will continue their work with all the problems and unfinished discussions. Zhang Zan bo also said that, beside the purpose and willing, it is more urgent to train the skill with more and more practice works. “Independent and freedom never just come with talk”.