Since its inception in 2020, the BJIFF Workshop & Masterclass is committed to building a platform for exchanges and interaction among world renowned filmmakers, film fans and filmmaking professionals. Prestigious directors, producers, screenwriters, experts and scholars at home and abroad are invited to talk about their stories behind the scenes as well as experience and wisdom in filmmaking, and discuss hot topics and way forward of the film industry to promote and carry forward the international cinematic culture.

The 14th BJIFF Workshop & Masterclass featured Ann Hui, renowned director and producer from Hong Kong, China, as keynote speaker, Professor Dai Jinhua at Peking University as special guest moderator, and Vivian Qu as panelist. They presented a talk about independent female filmmakers. At the Workshop & Masterclass, director Ann Hui shared with the audience her filmmaking experience, which covers “half a history of Hong Kong cinema”, and thoughts and insights about the development of China’s film industry from perspectives such as her making of female-themed films and independent production.

　　Mixed cut of films by director Ann Hui

　　Group photo of Ann Hui Workshop & Masterclass

Vivian Qu, Ann Hui and Dai Jinhua from left to right

Dai Jinhua: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the 14th BJIFF Workshop & Masterclass. I’m Dai Jinhua, guest moderator today. It’s my great pleasure to be here. The keynote speaker Ann Hui, a prestigious director from Hong Kong, China, known as “half a history of Hong Kong cinema”, is indeed the female director that I admire the most.

The mixed cut shows director Hui’s diverse filmmaking career. She’s half a history of Hong Kong cinema, a trend-setter of the Hong Kong New Wave film movement, and a role model for great many renowned filmmakers today. There are many dimensions that we can dive into her filmmaking, but the mixed cut eventually focused on women’s perspective. Director Vivian Qu, who’s known for women’s perspective, is also joining us today. Please give it up for the two directors.

Ann Hui: I’m very flattered. Actually, I’m a fan of Professor Dai and director Vivian Qu. No exaggeration at all. I’ll answer your questions. Let’s have a discussion.

Vivian Qu: Hi there! I’m here to learn because you two are filmmaker and scholar that I really respect. I’ve learned so much from you. So I'm thrilled and excited to join this talk.

Dai Jinhua: I have no idea which film or films by director Hui everyone finds most impressive. For me, I was fully blown away by her for the first time with Summer Snow. I often share with my students The Way We Are in class. That film and subsequent The Postmodern Life of My Aunt and A Simple Life present women’s lives through the lens of a female director. Is there any association between female roles and your filmmaking experience and life? Is there any special perspective or approach dealing with them?

Ann Hui: Our view changes as we get old. I used to work on dramatic films or those with impacts or action. But I changed in middle age after watching films by Hou Hsiao-hsien and Edward Yang, who dealt with real life. That’s why I hired Nien-Jen Wu to be my screenwriter. I think it’s the era of director Vivian Qu now. I watched Angels Wear White. To tell you the truth, it beat me. Angels Wear White beat us and won the award. But I’m very happy for the film. Because I found her film more creative than mine. It’s not about her being young or that newcomer director should be encouraged. The film is really a masterpiece. She deconstructed a dimension beyond reality. I wish to hear her opinion today.

　　Ann Hui

Vivian Qu: Professor Dai asked which films by director Hui we find very impressive. I’m impressed by Song of the Exile. I was moved deeply probably because it’s closely related to your lifetime and actual life. The melancholy or elements beyond description are part of real life.

When I make films, I mostly start with myself. Our field of view is limited when we look at the world. We see too many puzzles and unknown stuff. How can we know the truth behind a thing? I bring the narrative into my filmmaking process. How I find truth, and take the audience along. In this way, the audience interact closely with a film. They become part of the narrative. That’s a good filmmaking approach in my opinion.

Dai Jinhua: Could you two directors elaborate on your thoughts about gender?

Ann Hui: In terms of thoughts about gender, I began the thinking in my 70s when I’m almost sexless. Such thinking is necessary though. In the past, I wasn’t trying to make films from women’s perspective. I simply wanted to film a story, whose leading role happened to be female. As I’m female and know female well, I made it. Nowadays, I would put my thoughts in the big picture. I got to know the causes and effects. I used to disagree that a film must include feminism or relevant concepts. Once my horizon was broadened through reading, I believed those concepts should be there, even in the early story development stage. More films about feminism would propel social progress.

Vivian Qu: An article written by Professor Dai -- Gender and Narrative: Female Roles in Contemporary Chinese Films thoroughly explains the status quo of women in China, and female narrative in films, literature and other forms of art. It’s a shame that I didn’t read the article earlier. I ran into it later.

When I first started filmmaking, I had vague ideas about gender, and was groping in the dark. I also had many questions. So I integrated those thoughts and questions in my films.

When it comes to women’s perspective and presentation of female roles in films, I asked questions and thought at the same time in the process of creation. Besides, I did reading and watched films. Step by step, those things were developed and clarified.

Later, I read the article by Professor Dai. It speaks clearly and thoroughly about the status quo of women in society and how we can visualize it. 

　　Dai Jinhua

Ann Hui: I’d like to add a point. I watched The Zone of Interest recently, the winner of Academy Award for Best International Film. The film tells us that we must start with ourselves if we wish to make improvements. When thinking about feminism, we should take into account our position. Am I wining and dining all day long without thinking anything? Start with ourselves when promoting feminism. Examine ourselves before fighting for it.

Dai Jinhua: Thank you, director Hui, for the addition. Next question, director Hui adapted the most of Eileen Chang’s novels, including Love in a Fallen City, Eighteen Springs and Love After Love. Did you choose to do so or was assigned to?

Ann Hui: Half and half. I was eager to break away from Shaw Brothers when filming Love in a Fallen City. I was contracted to make a film but it failed. But I really wanted to do directing, and Love in a Fallen City was available. We did the shooting very fast. Even if we’d slowed down, I wasn’t mature enough to make it.

Dai Jinhua: Your notable film in recent years -- The Golden Era depicts lifetime stories of Xiao Hong. It’s also your only biographical film. Xiao Hong is a woman of letters and a female author. Any special considerations when you made the film?

Ann Hui: Originally, we planned to include Xiao Hong and Ding Ling. But Li Qiang rejected Ding Ling. And producer Yuan Mei told us she’s a big fan of Xiao Hong. That’s how we reached agreement. I read a lot of books when the script writing started. Li Qiang asked more time for thinking, and suggested me to do other projects first. I respect and trust him very much. So I directed The Way We Are and Night and Fog, and filmed The Golden Era two years later.

It took him three years to finish the script. I thought it was very good when I read it. But the original version was too long with more than 300 scenes. We ended up filming over 200 scenes. As an afterthought, the original concept is very good. But I failed to make it as good as possible. In my opinion, there weren’t enough effective paragraphs. If only there’d been more scenes such as tying shoes or dining, the film would have been less like montage. The film is not just about women. It aims to tell stories about life and art as well as ups and downs in life. 

　　Ann Hui Workshop & Masterclass

Dai Jinhua: Director Hui’s answer leads to my next question. You don’t usually write scripts yourself. Instead, you collaborate with screenwriters, such as Li Qiang. How do you handle scripts by screenwriters? One saying goes as a director translates a script; another saying goes as a director rewrites a script; and there are directors taking scripts as source materials. How about you?

Ann Hui: I worked with Joyce Chan in the beginning. She’s very creative and opinionated. I said yes to everything she wrote immediately. She handed in script and I shot it accordingly every day. That’s how things used to be done. I waited for her at her place. I would pick the script for a scene that I would work on in next two days. I respect literature so much that I don’t think everyone can write. I suspect that I can write. What I write is a story rather than a script. A script should be well-paced. I wanted to learn script writing and worried that I was terrible at writing.

Dai Jinhua: Honestly speaking, I prefer films that are characteristic of your style to those with screenwriter-dominant scripts.

Ann Hui: Eventually, it’s not about who leads which part. What matters most is a good story. I would not argue with anyone over it probably because I benefited a lot from others. The cast contribute a lot in the shooting process. A good film entails joint efforts rather than I do whatever I wish to.

Dai Jinhua: Still, you are in overall control of the post production, right?

Ann Hui: Speaking of editing, I just walk the editor through the process. I don’t think I need to make many modifications when the editing is done.

Dai Jinhua: I’m wondering what the relationship between you and the editor of The Way We Are is like.

Ann Hui: The Way We Are was filmed and edited in line with the script. The editor’s cut is 120 minutes long. I showed it to Wong Jing. He said the cut is very good but a bit long, and it needs modification. So I took out repetitions or those dealing with the same thing.

Dai Jinhua: It was filmed as per set runtime?

Ann Hui: I wasn’t used to reworking on source materials in the editing process, and still so. But that’s not good. Now I believe it’s better for director to do reworking.

　　Ann Hui Workshop & Masterclass

Dai Jinhua: Your filming and making style is completely different from that of Wong Kar-wai. Director Qu, you write scripts yourself, right?

Dai Jinhua: Can you share with us your experience in writing and directing the film you just finished shooting?

Vivian Qu: As far as I’m concerned, rising directors have to write scripts in the beginning of their directing career since there are no scripts for them to work on. However, I find scriptwriting the most joyful in the filmmaking process because it’s like dreaming. You are imagining a world in your head, where you create characters and their living environment. And you enjoy the most freedom and wildest imagination in that stage. Therefore, when I come up with ideas, I would start scouting of locations to find right location in my view, and allow my characters to grow up in the set environment. I hope it’s an organic process. And I would continue to check the script and videos while writing, and visualize the script in my head. That’s why I said it’s like dreaming. Ultimately, I think the script is done when you can actually make a dream like that.

When I start shooting my own script, I’ve visualized many ideas. As for editing mentioned earlier, it’s indeed an opportunity for us to modify the original script, or rework the script.

　　Ann Hui

Dai Jinhua: Next comes the part I’m most interested in asking director Hui. We always talk about independent directors, independent producers, independent creation and independent films. As a matter of fact, I came to realize very late that director Hui has been an independent director throughout her lifetime. She's been playing an instrumental role in the history of Hong Kong cinema. She never signed any company. You’ve been fighting on your own. If I were to define the theme of this workshop, I would call it “Woman on Her Own”. As Hark Tsui commented in Keep Rolling, there is nobody to turn to or rely on in case of difficulties. You’ve been acting on your own for half a century in filmmaking. Can you talk about this choice and persistence?

Ann Hui: It wasn’t my choice. It’s not easy for me to get along with others. Though I look very nice, I’m very aggressive when filming. And I sometimes put forward weird requirements, not normal ones. I didn’t know it in the past and often had fallouts when working with others. Later it occurred to me that it’s necessary to take things as they happen when working with others and only do what one can do, and it’s better to team up with those that I worked well with before. Surprisingly, I rely on crew members a lot but not so on art staff because I’m very keen in that regard. Still, I respect them very much. I disagree with them in many cases but I wouldn’t say anything. When they come up with an idea, I would say yes if I find it acceptable. In short, I didn’t mean to act on my own. It’s just difficult for me to get along with others. I want to change that now because of my poor physical conditions. I can’t make a film on my own anymore. So I hope I can find partners to help and exchange with one another.

Dai Jinhua: According to director Hui, she didn’t have a choice but to act on her own. Apparently, it’s because she didn’t want to make any compromises for the sake of contract signing.

Ann Hui: Subject matters that I prefer to work on are normally those they don’t want to invest in, such as the elderly. They think it doesn’t make any sense.

　　Ann Hui Workshop & Masterclass

Dai Jinhua: So persistence means no compromise against capitals. Director Hui chose the hard filmmaking path. It’s hard in various eras, and remains so in current filmmaking context. I remember a quote from director Hui that I find very touching. You said that you make every film as if it’s the last one because there may be no more investment or no one wishing to work with you. I believe it entails much courage.

In fact, you went through a decade-long stagnation or down period, during which you did teaching, and lived in Japan for a while. Looking back, what does that period mean to you?

Ann Hui: I was very upset. I didn’t have any money or job. I ran off to Japan in my 40s and lived with those in 20s. It didn’t feel right. I wasn’t happy. But in retrospect, of course, that period is an important part of life experience. It’s essential to experience frustrations. For instance, if someone treats you nice during a period like that, you would be very grateful, and make films. It would be rather difficult to make films when you lack experiences.

Dai Jinhua: That’s characteristic of director Hui. She said it like it’s no big deal. Nowadays, it’s beyond imagination for young filmmakers to stop filmmaking and don’t settle down in real life for 10 years. But you hung in there and kept looking for new opportunities. I think it’s absolutely amazing for you to do so.

My next question is also for director Hui. There are more independent female filmmakers in recent years, such as Greta Gerwig, director of Barbie and Jury President of the Festival de Cannes this year, specializing in independent production. What do you think of the rise of female directors in the international community over the years?

Ann Hui: They are increasingly successful. They are as creative as male directors, and they do better on offbeat subject matters. For example, I ran into an award-winning African female director in Berlin. Her documentary is just 60 minutes long, but it earned applause by us 7 jury members. The documentary documents how 30 pieces of African antiques are returned to her country. Unexpectedly, she made it accessible, deep, hilarious and touching. I think it really brings credit to women.

Dai Jinhua: Director Qu, what’s your opinion about the position of women in the industry and changes in recent years?

Vivian Qu: Just like director Hui said, women are infinitely creative. So I’m very happy to see more female-themed works and female directors. It’s a thrilling era. Women take up half of the world's population. Aren’t we supposed to see more stories about women? I think it’s fully expected. It’s really encouraging to see that fresh perspectives and experiences are presented in films by female directors.

　　Vivian Qu

Dai Jinhua: Director Qu is also a renowned producer, such as Black Coal, Thin Ice. Do you find the two roles conflicting? Are they separate or overlapping?

Vivian Qu: I began to work as a producer by accident. I was trying to help a friend. Back then, everyone was having a difficult time in making independent films and needing help. I offered help and thus became a producer. The commercial logic behind making an arthouse film isn’t contradictory to creative work. Frankly speaking, in order to sell well, an arthouse film must be well produced with unique cinematography and innovation. Its commercial logic is different from that of commercial films. For me, the two roles are not conflicting. As a producer, I tried my best to help a director improve his film and ensure better quality. However, after I produced one film, more and more people offered me the job. I realized that it would be hard for me to get back to my own creative work if I continued to accept those offers. So I stopped, and said no. I hastily started making my own film. From then on, I refocused on directing.

Dai Jinhua: The theme of this workshop is “A History of Creation -- Independent Female Filmmakers”. Director Hui here represents the history of creation for independent female filmmakers. We are able to feel, imagine and perceive the history through her sequence of works. Director Hui’s debut film is The Secret followed by The Story of Woo Viet and Boat People. As director Hark Tsui pointed out, your films broadened creative space and awareness, and changed the path of Hong Kong cinema. What were your thoughts back then?

Ann Hui: Actually, I’m not the one with ground-breaking ideas. The film A Touch of Zen won an award at the Festival de Cannes in 1975. I was very happy about it. I know Patrick Tam. He said we shouldn’t make that kind of films anymore and we should produce modern films. He was very pioneering and authoritative. He aimed to put TV series about family affairs into the spotlight in international community. Those TV series he directed at the TV station are predecessors of the New Wave movement. He mentored us newcomer directors. Our ways of shooting, writing, synchronized recording and source material collection were taught by Patrick Tam.

It would be an exaggeration to say we made it in the international community because martial arts films were the ones reaching the international audience. Everyone was watching martial arts films in the 1980s around the world. Those were very creative. And they started a further alternative path.

　　Ann Hui Workshop & Masterclass

Dai Jinhua: Director Hui told us the internationalization of Hong Kong cinema began with the popularity of martial arts films among the audience in Europe and America.

Ann Hui: Feng Hsu and Roy Chiao starring in A Touch of Zen went to Cannes. Director King Hu can’t take me there because of limited budget. So you can tell the difficulties of filmmakers. He wrote me a letter, saying that if Chinese films could attract international attention and win awards with films on real modern life rather than martial arts, embroidery or china one day, then Chinese films succeed. His prediction came true. Many films made it, like Angels Wear White, a nominee at the Venice International Film Festival. What he said came true.

Dai Jinhua: The first time I heard this: if one day Chinese films about real life stories win awards in global cinema, then Chinese cinema stands up. Back then, Raining in the Mountain by director King Hu already won acclaims at international film festivals in Europe.

Ann Hui: Nevertheless, it’s true that films about modern life break limitations on Chinese cinema. Even so, martial arts films also break our limitations. We all made contributions.

　　Ann Hui Workshop & Masterclass

Dai Jinhua: I’d like to make a point. Just now, director Hui explained that she wasn’t the pioneer. Rather, counterparts in the same generation had the vision. The older generation of filmmakers envisioned it. Honestly, it’s the second time I encounter such a case. Former female publisher Dong Xiuyu made similar comment when she was commended for removing restrictions on reading and opening up historical period of China: I can’t take the credit; my counterparts made contribution, so did the older generation by offering me convenience and shelter. I have to say that’s the attitude an accomplished woman holds. They never highlight their role in history. Instead, they explain what the historical environmental is like and what people were doing. No matter how great a genius you are, it’s impossible to make an epochal breakthrough on your own. Women tend to put themselves back in the historical environment.

As I mentioned, my favorite is Summer Snow. I shouldn’t say favorite. It’s the first one to blow me away. In researchers’ view, it marks a turning point in your filmmaking career. From then on, you focus on ordinary people, characters and things around you. I would tell young researchers that they are making an over-interpretation. You are not choosing characters to symbolize things but presenting friends and lives of yours. In terms of that period and turning point, what were you thinking about? Or what were your feelings? There are more scenes of “tying shoes and dining” from then on.

Ann Hui: I was offered to make a documentary about the elderly in my 40s. I visited many elderly people. While reading their materials, I suddenly realized that I would get old. It didn’t occur to me before my 40s. So I always wanted to make film about the elderly. And I filmed Summer Snow a few years later.

Dai Jinhua: The elderly are faced with more problems as they get older. Director Hui and I are old. It seems that even able old people like us are burdened with old issues. Both director Hui and I are accompanying our old mom. Lasting aging problems of the elderly, especially Alzheimer’s, dementia and disability, are barely seen in films or social discourse. As far as I know, Summer Snow is the first, the very first Chinese film to present the issue. One more question. I made a non-theoretical conclusion after watching The Way We Are: films without dining scenes are not good ones or dedicated to humanity. There are a few scenes where the old grandma living alone is fed a piece of beef. Details like that are spontaneous or designed based on special feelings?

Ann Hui: I am always attentive to details. It depends on whether those details are captured on camera. The dining scene in The Way We Are looks great since the prop team prepared delicate dishes. And the dishes were cooked right before the shooting began. The two cast members ate with relish. That’s the way. It’s totally different from their pretending to eat inedible dishes. For example, the cooking of scrambled eggs varied, too. Some were medium well and some were well done. All those details were meticulously designed. Every time a scene was done, the cast members would say they didn’t need to have an extra meal and they would eat the dishes.

Dai Jinhua: So they were really eating in those dining scenes?

Ann Hui: Yes.

Dai Jinhua: That’s very important. No props or prepared food. I know that you would do a lot of research and read many materials when making a film about history. In contrast, it’s not necessary for a film about daily life. It’s more about input of your own life experience. For example, the biographical film about Xiao Hong and Our Time Will Come. Was literature reading helpful for film post-production? Were you reliant on the literature?

Ann Hui: Sure there was source material. There's a lot of stuff you won’t know until you read materials. I also conduct location scouting like director Qu does. If there is any special view, I would tell my screenwriter. TV series shooting used to be very touching. We did location scouting while screenwriter wrote script. It wasn’t easy to take photos sometimes. And I was clumsy. So I would depict the view to the screenwriter so that they could include it in the script. I love locating scouting and still rush to do so. Location scouting staff would wonder why I take their job. Why don’t you just look at the photos?

　　Ann Hui Workshop & Masterclass

Dai Jinhua: In other words, it’s important for you to enter and feel the space, right?

Ann Hui: Actually, I increasingly believe that the feel rather than tangible items makes a film. In the past, I could only like or value things secretly. But now I can prioritize them openly. Just like what the photographer said, I didn’t think I understood photography. But how do you like the feel of a film’s cinematography? Today, many narratives and previous filmmaking requirements are applied in TV series. Current films are about presenting one’s opinions and feel. Where you present great opinions and things distinctive from others, your film succeeds. So it’s different to make TV series from films. I want to shoot TV series since I’ve never done it before.

Dai Jinhua: It’s very important that director Hui just gave us her own definition of film. According to her, narratives are applied in TV series making, and films are more about director’s opinions and feel.

Ann Hui: Yes.

Dai Jinhua: It’s essential to catch and follow the feel. You directed Headmaster in Septet: The Story of Hong Kong. Many audience and film critics believe you are paying tribute to films made on film rolls. Kodak was shut down in 2012. From our entry into the digital era to AI booming last year and this year, and launch of Sora, what do you think of the impacts of technology? If you are going to make films again, how will you deal with those changes?

Ann Hui: I’m happy about them. No upset at all. Probably because I’m not obsessed with film rolls. Thanks to technological upgrading, filming becomes so easy. It’s getting equal and universal. I’m curious about director Qu’s opinion since she didn’t go through the transformation, and began with digital means.

Vivian Qu: It was digital when I started filming. But we want to present film grain effect while filming. So we add filters and make changes. It’s hard to replicate the beauty of film rolls by digital means. However, digital means indeed make filming more accessible. Anyone can grab a phone and start filming. Convenience is definitely good and we should embrace it. The birth of a new technology poses challenges every time. It’s difficult to make the most of a new technology, and utilize it to make films that are timely relevant and impressive.

　　Ann Hui Workshop & Masterclass

Dai Jinhua: I’d like to add a point. There is nothing wrong with technology. It offers us much convenience, and I’m not against technology. The last time I heard about technology was from Agnès Varda’s documentary. As she indicated, there was only handycam. Isn’t it an open mindset of women? We are open to every possibility. But I got admit to you that I feel sorry for film rolls and films shot on film rolls. As director Qu said, we don’t feel big changes today because digital films are replicating those made on film rolls. And digital films are likely to differ greatly from the latter in future. It just takes time for new media to open up. I do hope the disappearance of films made on film rolls is not dreadful and cinema is going to survive. It doesn’t matter or has nothing to do with digital films.

I seldom cry but I burst into tears when I heard director Hui won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Venice International Film Festival. I felt happy for her receiving the great honor, and sympathetic with her heartbreaking comment. Cinema means so much to us and the entire world. I’d like to ask director Hui, are there any visions or further plans of filmmaking back then and from now on?

Ann Hui: I was not feeling well over the past few years. I had more time to think and appreciate films. Thus I could focus more on cinematic aesthetics. I really think I made progress, and I do want to make films. On the other hand, it’s time to give filmmaking opportunities to young people. But I have some ideas and wish to try them. I want to make a film if possible.

　　Ann Hui

Dai Jinhua: Here comes my personal question. It seems that your professional ethics as a director are like old-school filmmakers in Hong Kong, China, because you basically accept whatever are offered to you. I recall you saw director King Hu say so in a documentary that a director should take filming jobs when they are offered to.

Ann Hui: It’s not by filmmakers in Hong Kong, China, but Jean-Luc Godard. The French New Wave movement is similar to Hong Kong cinema in the beginning when directors filmed real life on the street. I kept an article by Godard (Cahiers du Cinéma) at hand, and encouraged myself on every set. In that article, he encouraged every young director to take whatever job they are offered, like a documentary about oil fields. For example, Alain Resnais wasn’t a documentary director in the beginning. He filmed oil for oil field owners, and he did it exceptionally well. So don’t look down on documentaries or commercials. Take any filming job as Godard said.

Dai Jinhua: I can’t imagine that. Are you saying that a director is able to shoot various subject matters? Should they accept an offer even though they know they’re not good at it?

Ann Hui: It’s a different matter whether you can do it or not. Even experts fail at times. Whether one wants to do it or does it is different. If one’s allowed to do it, I’m sure it’s the biggest benefit and highest achievement. In this case, it’s free to make films. You can make whatever films you want to. Accept it if you fail or work on a new project.

　　Ann Hui Workshop & Masterclass

Dai Jinhua: I think that’s the different choice for prestigious and successful filmmakers, some of whom keep making films and have a long list of works with various levels of achievement; others wait patiently for films that they excel at and love.

Ann Hui: It’s a personal choice. Just do what you want to do. To produce a perfect film and make as many films as one can are completely different. You don’t have to produce a perfect film all the time. Though it would be nice if you produced a perfect film.

Dai Jinhua: Many thanks to the two directors. In particular, thank you, director Hui, for the frank sharing.

The announcement of director Hui as a keynote speaker of the Workshop & Masterclass received more enthusiastic response than ever. I hosted Workshops & Masterclasses before but none of my friends gave me any feedback or asked me to bring them here. But this time, all my friends “begged” me to bring them here.

So I think it shows recognition of director Hui’s art career, and proves you’ve gained sincere admiration of the public, which more famous and accomplished directors may lack. 

Ann Hui: Thank you!

Dai Jinhua: I understand your passion and love. Next, the floor is open for questions. Seize the opportunity and ask director Hui questions.

　　Ann Hui Workshop & Masterclass

Audience 1: Director Hui, director Qu and Professor Dai, thank you all for the sharing. My question is covered in your previous talk. But I’m still wondering when director Hui planned and shot artistic films about real life, like Summer Snow and The Way We Are, how do you deliver individual artistic expression and persuade presenters from investing in those films at the same time? In other words, how do you consider the commercial aspects of those films?

Ann Hui: I was very busy working on the story step by step. I was a bit nervous, and didn’t know if it’d work. A majority of the cast were laughing in the dubbing process. I felt very happy. Eventually, it was nominated and awarded at the Berlin International Film Festival. I was surprised that such as film about daily life would win awards. Nevertheless, Josephine Siao performed exceptionally well.

Dai Jinhua:  Did you cast actors in person?

Ann Hui: No, I needed to talk with my boss about cast decisions. I’m very grateful to Golden Harvest. Raymond Chow asked me which subject matter I was working on. I said a project about the elderly. He immediately approved it. He preferred to have Josephine Siao, and promised to launch the project if I could persuade Josephine from joining. And he preferred Sihung Lung for the role of father-in-law. He was very popular then. I said I didn’t know who that was. I would cast Roy Chiao. And that was how we negotiated. As soon as he said Josephine Siao, I was happy since I had the same idea.

Dai Jinhua: In my opinion, director Hui’s films... I love director Hui and director Hou Hsiao-hsien. They are cinematic artists in my view. If anything went wrong with the casting, I wouldn’t have been so crazy about their films. Right casting makes great films. However, as director Hui said the casting must be negotiated with her boss. Don’t be romantic in this regard. Director doesn’t have so much power as imagined.

　　Ann Hui Workshop & Masterclass

Audience: I have a question for director Hui. You made many literary adaptations, such as Eighteen Springs and Love After Love. What are the advantages and limitations of literary adaptations as compared to original scripts?

Ann Hui: In terms of advantages, there is a good story and interesting characters. As for limitations, the better and more renowned a literary work is, the harder it gets to change the audience’s stereotypes. Big changes won’t do. Nor no changes. In short, there are intrinsic difficulties.  

Dai Jinhua: I’d like to ask a question on behalf of those leaving comments online. It’s said the question is of wide interest for many people. It’s about Eileen Chang. Love After Love received strong reactions, or frankly speaking, controversies. What were you like when making the film?

Ann Hui: I was super nervous and pleasantly surprised to work on Eileen Chang’s novel in the beginning because I’m a fan of her. And I deemed her an old friend over decades. I admit that I didn’t do well in many regards when filming Love After Love, and hope I’ll get better in future. But I won’t adapt any novels by Eileen Chang anymore since I didn't figure out the right way of adaptation. That’s the foremost issue to be addressed before making an adaptation.

Dai Jinhua: We’re very happy to have a talk with director Hui. We’ve known each other for more than 20 years. And we served as jury members at a film festival held in Taiwan, China, when we first met. I was afraid of talking to a prestigious director like her. But she approached me, saying she read my book and that it was well written. You can imagine how happy I was.

Ann Hui: Not “well”, I said “very well”.

Dai Jinhua: I was moved and amazed by director Hui’s frank sharing of truth in most plain words. You can feel the wisdom and thoughts accumulated by her from difficulties in filmmaking over time.

I’d like to thank director Hui and director Qu for exchanges with us on behalf of the audience. Like director Hui said “Long live cinema” in her acceptance speech at the Venice International Film Festival, for the sake of love for cinema, survival of cinema in the 21st century, and brighter life through cinema, I think director Hui is continuing filmmaking. And director Qu’s new film is about to be released. As long as I can speak up and walk on my feet, I will continue to share my love of cinema with everyone. Let’s sustain the great cause of cinema.

　　Ann Hui Workshop & Masterclass