On this 4th anniversary of Umbrella Revolution in HK, I will be frank as I had not planned to revisit/watch any Umbrella Revolution video footage including my own documentary because I had watched my documentary and the footage in it probably hundreds of time during edit. But 4 years later, while I of course remember and appreciate the major players’ roles and efforts, the unnamed strangers who helped out by sweeping water on the the street are what affected me and what I want to remember the most.
I recently had the great pleasure of having an extensive 2-hour interview with Taiwanese award-winning director of LOVE Talk 幸福定格 (see below for synopsis) Mr. Shen Ko-shang 沈可尚. after watching his new documentary (spent 7 years to film 8 couples) which I really enjoyed and found insightful.
最近慶幸有機會訪問台灣得獎導演沈可尚兩小時，詳談他非常好看及發人深省的新紀錄片”幸福定格 LOVE Talk” (七年時間拍攝八對夫妻) (影片簡介見文章末).
Ko-shang was very accommodating in letting me asked questions in English (with some Mandarin translation when necessary) and then he answered in Mandarin.
沈導演非常包容合作, 樂意讓我用英語發問（必要時加上一些普通話翻譯），然後沈導演用普通話回答。
Since Ko-shang gave some very broad, in-depth, very insightful and sometimes unexpected answers, I wasn’t sure if it is useful or unhelpful to break the Q&As down and provide precise time codes to help viewers access a specific section.
My suggestion is to watch the whole interview from beginning to end so it flows better. But if you must, see below for linked time codes and my questions.
Here are some of the questions asked: 以下是訪問中的一部份問題:
Question @1m45s I heard from a HK organizer of Chinese Documentary Festival (第十一屆華語紀錄片節) the first screening of “Love Talk” was sold out on the first day of ticket sales. And the second screening are almost sold out. So they added a third screening.
How do you feel when hearing this good news? Do you feel pressure from anticipation of the audiences?
Question @3m52s Are you looking forward to Q&As with HK audiences?
Question @5m10s In 2010, you pitched 幸福定格 with the English title “Double Happiness Limited” at the CCDF pitching forum (華人紀錄片提案) and now 7 years + editing time later, 幸福定格 has evolved into “LOVE talk” (with the letters
L.O.V.E. in upper case).
Can you talk about what did you try to capture in the beginning and what did you get at the end?
Question @14m07s So it took 14 months to make: 賽鴿風雲 RACING PIGEON IN TAIWAN, 3 years to make: 築巢人 A Rolling Stone, and now 7 years to make 幸福定格 LOVE talk filming 8 couples.
How did you feel during the 7 years of filming and about one year of editing? Were you very worried about not getting what you want or need?
Question @21m28s When you decided you to start editing, did you ever go back to film more footage?
Question @29m03s Are there cases after their chats were filmed, they asked you to delete the footage or promise not to use them? If not, what would you have done if you were asked?
Question @37m26s If you had a time machine and could time travel to 10, 20, or 30 years into the future to talk to the grown up children of the couples, what would you tell them? Would you thank them? What would you say?
Question @44m11s How did you decide to place the funny moments, the heart warming moments, the tense and stressful moments in the film? In a sense, how did you discover the flow of the film?
Question @1h03m14s Since LOVE talk has already screened at film festivals in places like 西寧, 武漢, and 北京, and you’ve Q&As, something I understand you enjoyed. Can you give examples of three memorable audience questions that you were asked and your answers?
Comment @1h12m01s Mr. Shen: “In the three screenings, audiences all have asked this question.”
Question @1h15m20s Some viewers who have watched a promotional clip would have learned one of the women in the movie had stage 3 liver cancer. After rematching the film, I realized it wasn’t mentioned it the movie. Can you explain a little of your reasons of actually NOT giving much details about the couples and what happened to them as some scenes ended mid-argument?
Comment @1h16m42s Mr. Shen: “The most important message of this film is “TALK“.”
Question @1h18m56s My question about naming the film “TALK love” since TALK is so important?
Question @1h20m56s In the end of the film, we learned one of the husbands was in HK? Is he still working in HK? And do you know if he plans to attend one of the screenings?
Question @1h23m37s German director Werner Herzog is known for making some great documentaries and drama. I love his documentaries: Grizzly Man , Cave of Forgotten Dreams and his dramas like Rescue Dawn. You yourself have made both dramas and documentaries in your career. Can you briefly talk about your processes in coming up with ideas, planning, and making documentaries vs dramas? Do you have a favourite genre: documentaries or dramas?
Question @1h44m42s What next for you with “LOVE talk”? Which festivals are you scheduled to attend? And will people in Taiwan get to see “LOVE talk” in film festivals or main theatres?
Question @1h47m25s What do you look forward in your upcoming trip to HK? What do you like to eat? What do you usually do in HK?
Question @1h48m33s Some of your HK friends make documentaries. Do you end up talking shops and each others’ movies with your documentary filmmaking friends?
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Here are some official film stills of LOVE Talk 幸福定格:
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LOVE Talk 幸福定格 @ The 11th Chinese Documentary Festival 2018
Date Time Venue
17/10 (Wed) 2:30 pm Lecture Hall, Hong Kong Science Museum*
18/10 (Thur)【Additional Screening】 9:50 pm MOViE MOViE Cityplaza*
20/10 (Sat) 3:30 pm MOViE MOViE Cityplaza*
*Q&A session with the director
** From LOVE Talk 幸福定格 promotional materials **
//LogLine:
He spent 7 years looking for the secret to the preservation of marriage. Taiwan director Shen Ko-shang, after his first year of marriage, started to question his marital life, and with these questions, he had been shooting 8 couples for 7 years. He invited them to have conversations in front of the camera, while the topics ranging from their in-law issues, children upbringing problems, to the division of responsibilities in their marriage, in order to seek for the answers to two questions: Do people really need marriage? How exactly do two people get along with each other for a lifetime?
Synopsis
One finds love, marries and then expects happiness. Once in marriage, love alone ceased to be the only thing that bonds the two together; things of more complexity are added to the play. A conversation, an exchange, is the only possible means of dissolving the boundary between two individuals. The film focuses on daily conversations between eight couples. In their trivial dialogues of love, husband and wife question each other on topics ranging from sex, parenting, housework division, problems with their mother-in-law, and even dullness of marital life. The conversations reflect the authenticity of characters’ conditions of living, exploring the depth of intimate relationship in marriage while at the same time shedding a dim light on the significance of happiness. Perhaps this sort of happiness lies in the journey where seeking is the end itself, and it can certainly not be captured in frame.//
Earlier in 2017, my Facebook friend Horatio Tsoi (蔡錦源 Kam Yuen), an experienced TV/film director & producer, and his Hong Kong team completed a stunningly/hauntingly beautiful/insightful independent documentary 《311 – Revival 》 that is also thought provoking. We get to see different parts of Fukushima Prefecture up close through the eyes of the presenter Clarisse Yeung 楊雪盈 (a HK district council politician), the film crews, and the high flying drone camera that shot some hauntingly beautiful footage. We also get to hear from local residents, a farmer, restaurant operators, NGO volunteer radiation measuring group, TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company ran the destroyed nuclear plants) official interviewed for the film to get their perspectives on things.
“Fukushima used to be a wonderful place. Unfortunately, since March 11, 2011, “Fukushima” has been superseded by another name: Nuclear Disaster Zone. Six years have passed, but over 80,000 Fukushima residents still cannot return home, still cannot return to their former lives. How did they get through it? Reconstruction work is slow. Several years on, surrounding the site of the Fukushima nuclear incident, there remain many refuge-seeking residents whose homes are still in lockdown. In the streets, people are taking it to their own hands to save their communities. Psychologically and practically, how does one rebuild? Does the civil society’s self-rescue mission conclude in recovering what was lost, or in reviving an even better community? In their eyes, what is “revival”? What is the meaning of “rebirth”? Our crew went all over the coastal areas of Fukushima, recording stories of residents each finding their own ways to save themselves.“
Museums: Inspirations from artists of the past (and present). Restaurants: Inspirations from living artists’ #experiments. Kitchens: Experiments by the artists in us all.
#yam’Tcha #paris #restaurant Chef’s Table: France – Adeline Grattard
Dec 22, 2017 Update: Wonderful to try the baos (buns) yesterday lunch and got a chance to have a wonderful long chat with Chi Wah as the store was a bit quiet because of the rain in Paris.
Long Hair (Leung Kwok-hung 梁國雄) was forced into the biggest fight of his political life with the recent unjust retroactive court ruling that robbed his Legislative Council seat. As I was digitizing the 25 hours of miniDV tapes I filmed to make Long Hair Revolution, I decided to turn some clips into deleted and extended scenes and used them as calls for help for Long Hair. #Donate #LHRDeletedExtendedScenes I stole the following words from a friend, I hope she doesn’t mind.
//Long Hair needs money for the battle ahead. The HKSAR and CCP government will do everything possible to bankrupt him, jail him, and destroy his movement for democracy in Hong Kong. They are threatening to dun him for 9 months of back wages, and have saddled him with millions of dollars in court costs. I’m reaching out to all of my friends, in and out of Hong Kong, to ask for your help. Please, please donate to keep his work and our dream alive. Here is an easy link. https://www.lsd.org.hk/donate/?lang=en
The donations are done with PayPal or credit card, and can be recurring or one-time-only. (For those of you unfamiliar with HK dollar amounts, 200 HKD is about 25 USD.)
Many many thanks! You are backing a noble man and a worthy cause. And if you’d like to know more about our Hong Kong situation, please reach out with questions and I’ll be happy to answer.//
This is NOT my documentary but I really enjoyed the newly released Guardian documentary “The Infamous Chalk Girl” by San San F Young (web, @ssfyoung) (Producer, Camera, Director) so I want to share it here. Have a watch!
P.S. My favourite scene is at the 20:45 mark and I left this comment: “This is a very touching scene to me. Chalk girl was asked what would she draw now?“
“Once the plaything of children, the hobbyhorse—a stick with a horse’s head—takes on greater importance and symbolism for a group of Finnish teens who organize flash mobs and post videos dedicated to the object of their devotion. The (mostly) girls who practise competitive hobbyhorse dressage and show jumping are not horsing around. With backs straight, shoulders square, knees up and toes pointed, these fantasy athletes are part of an underground scene and sport that’s taking hold of a new generation of riders—who also happen to be the ride. With a punk rock attitude, these hobbyhorse rebels use make believe and social media to challenge what’s considered age-appropriate or different. Bullies be damned. Hobbyhorse Revolution catches a trend in its infancy along with the imaginative and brave pioneers who refuse to be categorized or kept down for being true to themselves and their passion. Angie Driscoll“
Comments Off on Hobbyhorse Revolution – North American premiere at Toronto’s Hot Docs Festival | Canada, Documentary, YouTube | Permalink Posted by kempton
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