2020-07-29

Asian New Talent Award Official Selection| All About ING: The “confession” of Chinese father and son

“The film title is the names of a family of three. The film itself is also divided into three sections, each of which presents the change of family relationship after the misfortune from a different perspective. Dad Weiming\'s illness had great impact and influence on the whole family and individual members. I think each of them in the process deserves to be narrated and depicted.” At the film meeting of the Asian New Talent Award official selection “All About ING” held today, director Zi Huang calmly told the plot outline of his work. Compared with Yini Qian, the producer sitting next to him, he looks ineloquent, just as calm and restrained as the film - The pictures are clean and the lines are calm. There are some personal metaphors which are not straightforward instead of too many intense conflicts, which are very similar to the life scenes of every Chinese style family and the implicit expression between father and son.

All About ING has been well received after it was shown at the Shanghai International Film Festival, which also confirmed the initial impression of director Zi Huang by producer Yini Qian at the film selection meeting: “I am surprised that the director\'s first feature film can show such mature control. I believe he will have a long way of film career to go in the future, and then there will be many possibilities.” Such natural revelation may be closely related to the fact that the film is based on the real experience of director Zi Huang.

Zi Huang, who had studied directing abroad, never thought that he would make a family film in the future. It was only when he learned that his father was suffering from cancer that he had the impulse to create. After his father died, he plucked up his spirits and wrote a script for the two most perplexing periods in his life - bad relationship with mother before he graduated from high school and went abroad; and learning that his father was ill after returning to China. He wrote these two space-time and the same status of “want to run away from home” into the story in the film.

Put the words that have been said and not said into the lines, and move the scenes of life into the film. Everything is so natural. To some extent, this film has become Zi Huang\'s “confession” to his father in heaven: “I hope that I could present what I didn\'t do in reality and what I didn\'t satisfy him in the film.” For example, the plot at the end of the film in which three members of the family huddle together on a sleeper is derived from the fact that Zi Huang used to sleep between his parents when he was a child. When he grew up, his father often made fun of it, even in his sickbed. When Zi Huang talked about the stories with his father, he was full of warmth and regret: “Because I didn’t communicate with my dad a lot, he didn\'t really know what I wanted to do. He always tried to cater to my pleasure. I liked watching football, so he did too. He came to talk to me about football. I didn\'t think he understands football, so I didn\'t talk with him. The so-called I want to change the world (a line from the son in the film) is that I want him to know an idea in my heart.”

In and out of the film, from shooting and making to the content itself, All About ING is driven by “emotion”. Because too many feelings and wishes were projected, it was the director Zi Huang\'s obsession to be able to make this film. For this purpose, he brought in the whole family to participate in the filming. Although he encountered difficulties in the initial stage of funding, he finally accepted the initial investment from his relatives and successfully completed the film shooting. In his view, as a creator, he has to have a strong heart. Whether it is a commercial film or a literary film, these are not compromises, “It is just another way to talk to the world and create a connection with the audience. I think the most important thing is to make a film with a sincere heart.” He also revealed that he hoped to focus on some social issues in his next work, but it would take time to find the core of creation that impresses him.