Exclusive Interview With - Shang Xiaoyan; Director Of "The Pursuit Of Life"

 

 

Q&A " The Pursuit of Life” 

（生命底色)

 

Question:  The Pursuit of Life is about a teacher who gives up her life in the cities to move to a rural part of China. Is this film based on a true story?

 

 

Answer: The movie "The Pursuit of Life " is based on my novel "The Purple Butterfly" trilogy, which can be described as my own autobiographical novel in a way. Whether it is the story of Ms. Shang Yu, or the story of Principal Zhou, Director Li Ming and the Hai Lai Gutie siblings, the story of students dropping out of school to work is a common story, which goes beyond film or literature narratives.

 

Question: Is being a teacher in rural China difficult? What are the greatest challenges teachers in small countryside schools face?

 

Answer: Yes, it is difficult. I have worked as one of the rural teachers in China, and I have experienced the difficulties of rural education in the vast land of China, and I am also a member of the education of ethnic minorities in the remote mountainous areas of China.

 

In the Chinese millennium the rule of survival in rural communities is to take care of essentials, where education is an accessory, a luxury rather than a necessity.  In modern society, with the implementation of compulsory education and the widespread establishment of schools, rural farmers still need labor to survive, and rural families need helpers, so children as young as five or six years old start to become an indispensable labor force in a family. Therefore, it is not easy for rural students to become successful, and rural education is not easy; it’s hard and difficult.

 

Ethnic education not only has all the difficulties of rural education, but also has an additional layer of different cultural background and language. In the face of modernization and urbanization, the ethnic group itself must change and integrate, which requires new cognition, new ideas and confidence, and this process is challenging, painful, contradictory and sometimes overwhelming. Therefore, the song of the Yi singer Moxi Zishi, whether it is "Ajiru" or "The Ballad of Mother" is obviously sad, wandering, and encouraging to learn from the human world. As an educator from an ethnic minority I felt I must not only understand the different families of origin of ethnic students but also master their language, integrate into their world as soon as possible, and quickly establish fluid communication in order to effectively deliver the best education for their kids I could.  Therefore, rural education is difficult, ethnic education is even more difficult, rural education ethnic education facing students, their path to school is even more difficult. They are like a thin piece of glass, even if a little wind blows, a little carelessness will break, and they will face the risk of dropping out of school at any time. As teachers, there is nothing we can do about it. You may ask, "Hasn't the Compulsory Education Law been implemented?” Local education authorities do their best to "control dropouts and protect schools", as the government mantra says; and the state has also carried out precise poverty alleviation to help families in need to get out of poverty and become rich, but there is still a long way to go to make sure that everyone can go to school and have a shot at success. The challenge we face is not only from the limited resources to run the school, but also from the persistence of the students themselves in the face of the temptation of money in the outside world, so that when I made this film I was sometimes overcome with a sensation of guilt, helplessness and expectation.

 

 

Question: Shang Xiaoyan, the director of The Pursuit of Life, is from the Yi people (彝族); an ethnic minority group in Southern China. What can you tell us about Yi culture and people? How does her cultural identity influence her work?

 

Answer: As an educator of ethnic minorities, I love the place I came from; my home-town and my nation. I am a daughter of Yi ethnic group living in the southwest border of China. My parents are both inheritors of ethnic culture, and we know that a country and a nation must rely on education to develop, so I chose education with the support of my parents, and rural education because I wanted to give to the communities I love. In this land we have spilled our youth, blood, and even our lives, and we still love it. I turned this love into poems, into prose, into novels, and later into movies just to tell the world the real us, that we are eager to be understood, to be noticed, and to be encouraged by you, because we are also part of this world.

 

 

Question: Shang Xiaoyang has also written the novel Purple Butterfly. How does writing for the screen differ from writing books?

 

Answer: "Purple Butterfly" is my long trilogy, and the movie " The Pursuit of Life " is based on the main stories of the first and third parts. It took me more than twenty years to complete this novel. I never imagined that this novel would one day be put on the screen, let alone that I would one day cross over to be a screenwriter and director. By coincidence, it took me four years to get to where I am today. Because it was my first time making a film, I had to learn and grow up all over again, so I had no choice but to create the movie as a novel, shooting and changing, changing and shooting, and countless re-shoots before the movie came out. So, for me, creating a movie and writing a book are both processes that require me to give my best and keep moving forward against all odds, because I believe that a life based on dreams is a happy one.

 

In the creation of a novel, the time and space of writing is relatively free, it can be poetry or prose, narrative or lyrical, while the film is more demanding and precise in the refinement of the story, the release of emotions, in the expression, it is not only the artistic reproduction, but also the technical level of control, photography, editing, color mixing, sound effects and other scheduling. In short, how to write a book is a personal matter, while the film is a team spirit, it tests the film director's overall quality and artistic cultivation, literary skills.

 

 

Question: Are you planning any films or other works in the future?

 

Answer: The first draft of a 30-episode TV series based on the Purple Butterfly trilogy was completed in 2019, in addition to a documentary-like film reflecting students from ethnic minority areas dropping out of school to work on the coast.

 

I am honored that our film " The Pursuit of Life " has won the "Best Original Screenplay Award" at the 17th London World Film Festival in a country that has always spread the values of world culture and sharing around the globe.

Edit & Published By: Tawhid RN
Content Partner: Sfilmmaker