A Conversation between Chen Zheyi and Qiu Sheng | Golden Goblet Awards Short Film: Multiple Languages of Tight-knit Films

The Golden Goblet Awards Short Film Unit of the 25th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) has entered the countdown stage for submission. As a well-known "step by step" support platform for filmmakers in Asia, SIFF has invested a lot into the short film unit, and has thus won fruitful results. Recently, SIFF specially invited Chen Zheyi, jury of the main competition unit of the 2021 Golden Goblet Awards and jury president of the short film unit, Qiu Sheng, the director of the best live action short film DOUBLE HELIX for the 2021 Golden Goblet Awards, and Wang Yao, a postgraduate tutor and scholar of Beijing Film Academy, to present for us a wonderful conversation around topics such as the creation of short films, the role of short films in the growth of young filmmakers, and the establishment and significance of short film competition platforms.

Video conversation for the Golden Goblet Awards Short Film Unit of SIFF

Host:

Wang Yao | Film scholar, member of the Executive Committee of Network for the Promotion of Asia Pacific Cinema, member of the International Federation of Film Critics

Guests:

Chen Zheyi | Famous director from Singapore, jury president of the Golden Goblet Awards Short Film Unit of the 24th SIFF in 2021

Qiu Sheng | Chinese young director, director of the best live action short film DOUBLE HELIX for the Golden Goblet Awards of the the 24th SIFF in 2021

The meeting between the two in the real world

happened in Shanghai

The famous Singaporean director Chen Zheyi made a name for himself as a young man. He scooped the Short Films Special Mention at the Cannes Film Festival for his short film AH MA in 2007, and the Golden Camera Award at the 66th Cannes Film Festival for his debut PARENTS ARE NOT HOME in 2013. This influential Asian filmmaker has also served as the jury president for the Golden Goblet Awards Short Film unit at the 24th SIFF in 2021, when, he and the jury awarded the Golden Goblet Award for the Best Live Action Short Film to DOUBLE HELIX by Qiu Sheng, who is 5 years younger than him.

Director Qiu Sheng is also a "legend" in the eyes of many cinephiles who is not trained to be a filmmaker actually. Before earning the bachelor degree from Tsinghua University for medical equipment, he joined the film club of the university and was quickly promoted as the president in his freshman year, thus embarking on the journey of filmmaking ever since. Only four months after winning the Golden Goblet Awards for his live action short film DOUBLE HELIX, adapted from Wang Jinkang's science fiction novel, he was honored the Best International Short Film Award at the 48th Film Fest Gent in Belgium.

The two have long " been spiritually attracted to each other". Chen Zheyi noted that he had watched the feature film SUBURBAN BIRDS directed by Qiu Sheng at the BFI London Film Festival. "At that time, I felt that he saw the world from a very special perspective, and the language of his film work was quite unusual." When Qiu Sheng was an MFA graduate student in Hong Kong, he also watched AH MA directed by Chen Zheyi, "The myriads of changes were told in a concise way, and he is an idol for me."

However, it was in Shanghai that the two finally got the chance to be face to face with each other. Qiu Sheng was invited to direct this short film based on a science fiction novel, "After filming it, we were not sure whether to participate in the competition at SIFF or directly release it through a platform. It was not until the registration link was about to draw to a close that I finally decided to sign up one day. And I remember that it was March 31. Afterwards, I harvested a lot of surprises along the way, as I’d never expected to be shortlisted or even win an award." However, Chen Zheyi, who is the jury president of the short film unit, actually spoke highly of this film. "After watching all the 15 shortlisted works, I think this film is the most special one, matchless in terms the directorial style and the authorial style. At the same time, because I have seen his feature films before, I can notice the director’s progress and growth in guiding performers, and in art, choice of scenes and shooting scene scheduling. I have been talking about this film with the jury, and highly recommended it for the award. So, I am also very happy that it finally became the winner."

In fact, Qiu Sheng's DOUBLE HELIX isn’t the only work that impressed Chen Zheyi in the short film section of that session. "A film called A LITTLE CIRCUS made by a Japanese director in Cambodia is quite interesting. And I was touched by it; an animated short film from France (Note: French entry FOLIE DOUCE, FOLIE DURE) has the tinge of a documentary filmed in the form of animation, with the mastery use of a lot of animation techniques that instill an unfavorable subject with vim and vigor. And finally, we granted to it the honor of the best animated short film.” Chen Zheyi said, “The overall quality of works in the short film unit is quite exceptional, and my short films have also been shortlisted in many competitive feature film festivals, including the three top European film festivals, but I think that some of the short films I watched that time are not second to those at the major European film festivals.”

Qiu Sheng also watched a lot of short films at SIFF, "Including A LITTLE CIRCUS, I was also impressed by it. I found that the shortlisted works of this unit are very rich in both genres and techniques, showcasing inclusive and open attitude of SIFF as a competitive feature film festival."

One can gain the experience of making feature films

from shooting short ones step by step

In 2021, SIFF specially organized a short film recap screening for Chen Zheyi, and screened 7 selected short films directed by him. As a result, they were enthusiastically sought after by fans, with the tickets hard to get, due to their popularity not inferior to the two feature films in the main competition unit - even Qiu Sheng was not lucky enough to get one. Wang Yao, one of the happy few, still remembers that the short film collection even included the world premiere of a short film, "The screening ended very late that day, and Director Chen still came to the scene to have a half-hour post-screening communication with fans."

Chen Zheyi has participated in many film festivals and screening events. He often said that a director shall sharpen his skill in two aspects, which matter the most, "One is to guide the performers, and the other is to know where the camera should be placed." "Young directors can accumulate experience through short films, to lay a solid foundation for the creation of feature films in the future." He said that he has shot 12 short films so far. "Before I was engaged in feature films, I had made short films for 10 years. And I’ve also acquired experience in this way.”

Short films are by no means easy to shoot. For young directors, the most troublesome topic is length control. The requirement of SIFF for a short film’s length is "running for no more than 40 minutes, including the opening and ending parts". Some European film festivals restrict the length of short films to 30 minutes, and some even to only 15 minutes. But as Chen Zheyi has observed, Asian young directors "generally make lengthy short films, with some even being 45 minutes long". "I suggest that we should make shorter works. In fact, sometimes you will realize that it is a big challenge to tell a good story in a short period of time. And then we’ll wonder how to make short films more concise and powerful."

Qiu Sheng shared the same idea with Chen Zheyi. When he was an MFA student in Hong Kong, his graduation work was a self-written and directed drama short film GOLFVILLE, featuring Chen Jiawei and Chun Xia. "The problem was that I couldn’t cut the length of the film. At that time, I also planned to submit it for the short film unit at SIFF, but was hindered by the problem mentioned by Director Chen. At first, it was a 45-minute version. After learning about the registration requirements of many film festivals, I cut it into a 35-minute version in a hard way with some compromise. This short film built up my confidence initially at SIFF, and then I was encouraged to push ahead with film creation relentlessly and started to create my feature film scripts later." And now, he has developed his own unique authorial style. Wang Yao said: “The first time I watched Director Qiu’s work, I thought at first that it was weird for him to place the camara that way. But later, after you dive into the work, you will find that its position is very accurate, as it will help unlock a brand-new experience. You will feel surprised to be with such a fim worker."

The two directors, instead of resting on their well-known feature films, such as Chen Zheyi's award-winning PARENTS ARE NOT HOME and WET SEASON, still produce short films from time to time. The work THE BREAK AWAY filmed by Chen Zheyi during the outbreak of the epidemic has kept occurring to Qiu Sheng, "The story is set in Tongzhou, Beijing. I was totally surprised by it. The vibe, space and the way of dressing are genuine and of the strong flavor of of Tongzhou.” However, Chen Zheyi, who was invited to shoot this short film, was actually a remote director: “At that time, under the gloom of the epidemic, theaters all over the world were closed, and everyone could only stay at home, unable to continue creating and unable to continue to make movies. So, a production company invited a total of 7 directors from all over the world to make short films, to convey the message through the strength of a few film creators that facing even such a catastrophe to the mankind, we can still make movies and restart the global film industry.”

Against such a context, the budget is kept to the minimum. Many main creators join the crew for free, and only some technicians got some small salary. Chen Zheyi borrowed a camera and asked a photographer in Tongzhou to connect it to the computer for livestreaming. "I held an iPad in my left hand to watch the livestreaming and guide the shooting, while instructing the performers with my right hand through Voov Meeting. The investigation of scenes, script reading, styling, and other works whatever were all done through WeChat, and the post-production editing and tuning were also done online." However, it is this film, as he said, “made in an outrageous way” that becomes "a turning point" for him as a filmmaker. "It made me deeply realize that movies do have the power to transcend languages, borders, and cultures. And through this short film, I regained the true meaning behind movies."

The same is true for director Qiu Sheng. Even after SUBURBAN BIRDS won wide popularity, he still makes short films: "The production cycle of short films is short, and there is no requirement for the director's physical strength and endurance to work for a long term, but it allows you to go straight to the core of what you want to express through fast-paced and terse frames. So, following a feature film, to shoot a short film will be a kind of enjoyment for directors.”

The voices of many young directors

must be discovered through short films

During the conversation, directors Chen Zheyi and Qiu Sheng all encouraged young creators to sign up for such a big platform as SIFF to start their filming careers. "As a major film festival, it is a right choice to lay some emphasis on short films," said Chen Zheyi. "The voices of many young directors must be discovered through short films, be it by the market or by the audience."

For the public, it is now the era of short videos, and short films seem to no longer be an obstacle for even greenhand directors. But Chen Zheyi said that many short films are now gaining increasing commercial sense, "I actually don't categorize those commercialized short films as 'short films'. There are too many so-called micro-movies on the market. They are shot merely to meet the needs of a certain brand or sponsor by playing with punchlines or stirring up emotions. And such works, not initiated by an author and reflecting no individual’s thinking, are not short films at all.” Therefore, he believes that for platforms like SIFF that are undertaking more and more expectations, "The artistic perspective of film selection has become particularly key to fulfill more important duties."

The Golden Goblet Awards Short Film unit of SIFF was established in 2017. Director Chen Zheyi highlighted the internationality and diversity of SIFF, the only competitive feature film festival in China: "When diverse films are selected, there will be more new voices, new film languages, new shooting styles, and new storytelling angles. etc.; at the same time, different from many domestic film festivals or screening events that focus on directors from the Chinese-speaking region or Chinese mainland, SIFF can offer for us a more international arena. When I was young, I participated in many film festivals and viewed many short films from Asia, Europe, the United States, and Latin America. That’s, in fact, rewarding, and even brings for me a conceptual shock. They will motivate you to re-examine your way of telling stories, your way of execution, and your style, which is actually helpful for young directors in Asia, especially those in China."

Director Qiu Sheng also agrees with this point of view. He said that in 2021, he’d noticed the diversified attempts of the short film section of SIFF in the selection of films, “Also, I’m looking forward to it that SIFF will create more possibilities in the future for exchanges between short films and feature films, and between short films and SIFF PROJECT, for it is not infrequent for the creators of short films to learn from those of feature films. At the same time, the ideas of some short films can be developed into a feature film or a script after full communication, and then if they can then enter the SIFF PROJECT section, there will be a creation cycle, a complete system, within SIFF.”

In fact, just as director Qiu Sheng expected, SIFF has been trying to break down the barriers between various existing units and emerging units in the process of organization step by step to optimize the path for talented young filmmakers from the initial creation attempt to the final laurel of the Golden Goblet Awards. The submission session of this year's Golden Goblet Awards Short Film unit is about to come to a close. And we hope that more filmmakers with dreams will sign up for the competition to light up their aspiration for the film art in Shanghai.

Basic requirements for short films submitted for the "Golden Goblet Awards":

1. Live action short films and animated short films completed after June 1, 2022, with those to be premiered across the world or internationally preferred;

2. A running time of 40 minutes or less, including the opening and ending parts;

3. Short films not released publicly or distributed anywhere in any nontheatrical form before SIFF. And nontheatrical public release or distribution includes but is not limited to: Broadcast and cable television, PPV/VOD, DVD distribution, and Internet transmission.

4. Short films that has not participated in the main competition category of other FIAPF-accredited non-specialized competitive film festivals before SIFF.

5. Short films that are unencrypted DCP, or in a 24- or 48-frame HD digital cinema format, and meet other sound and screening requirements.

Application deadline: March 31, 2023