Doco award contenders open up about what inspired their five films

By Joyce Xu

The crews of the five contenders in the Documentary category of the Golden Goblet Awards discussed their productions at a press conference on June 21 during the 26th Shanghai International Film Festival.

Five documentary films -- “All and Nothing,” “Geri’s Wish,” “Ms. Hu’s Garden,” “Requiem for a Tribe” and “The Landscape and the Fury” -- are shortlisted for the film festival’s top awards in the unit. 

Helmed by Taiwan filmmakers Chu Po-ying and Liao I-ling, “All and Nothing” follows the lonely journey of the late Chinese artist Li Yuan-chia who established the L.Y.C. Museum & Gallery in rural Cumbria in north-west England. 

According to Liao, shooting of the film was inspired by a visit to the museum in the historic county around a decade ago. 

“We wanted to explore what the artist was actually pursuing along his journey from the Orient to the West,” said Liao. “We found his diaries and some documents to unveil an unknown story about the artist, a lonely stranger there.”

Director Chu hopes the film can inspire audiences to think about the value and significance of life.

Iranian filmmaker Marjan Khosravi has garnered many awards for her short films concerning women's rights and social issues in Iran.

“Requiem for a Tribe,” the seventh film of her career but the first in feature-length, focuses its lens on changes affecting the large nomadic Bakhtiari tribe in southwestern Iran.

“It is a story about the big changes to my tribe,” said Khosravi. “Many of its people now go to other provinces in the country. The film records the lives of the new generation and the coming of new cultures to the tribe.”

Khosravi wants as a filmmaker to preserve the amazing tradition and culture of her tribe and speak for women in her country. Ahead of shooting, she did a lot of research to ensure being able to tell good stories.

“Geri’s Wish,” a co-production of Finland and Bulgaria, is about the attempts of a Bulgarian girl, who has just finished high school, to find out why her parents abandoned her many years ago.

Kaarle Aho, producer of the film, noted that he had cooperated with director Tonislav Hristov for 16 years. When the director came to him with the idea, he could almost imagine the story, including its structure, characters and conflicts.

“The story was very clear for me at the very beginning,” Aho said. “It is a good and interesting subject.”

Shot in a green forest of Ravnice, at the northwestern tip of Bosnia, “The Landscape and the Fury” offers insights into local people’s everyday lives as well as the influences and scars resulting from wars. It is a co-production of Switzerland, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

According to director Nicole Vögele, she usually considers philosophical questions like “where do we come from, where do we go, and who do we belong to.” But none of these questions have been answered by people.

“When you finish your film, you don’t know where it will take you,” said Vögele, explaining why attending different film festivals is a fascinating and happy experience.

“Ms. Hu’s Garden” is a story about love and redemption. In the Chinese documentary film, Ms. Hu builds a flowery garden with a pile of garbage. In this way, she hopes to redeem herself and her son who suffers from depression.

“Despite difficulties in life, Ms. Hu’s kindness and optimism touched me a lot,” said director Pan Zhiqi.

Pan likes to tell stories about the lives and destinies of ordinary people. In his opinion, their stories can be overlooked amid the tremendous changes of the era.