Entertainment

Pingyao Best Director Winner Geng Zihan & Producer Jane Zheng Talk Coming-Of-Age Drama ‘A Song Sung Blue’ – Pingyao  

Geng Zihan has just won Best Director in the Fei Mu Awards of Pingyao International Film Festival for her debut feature, A Song Sung Blue, a coming-of-age tale set in Harbin in northeast China. 

The film, which premiered in Directors Fortnight at this year’s Cannes film festival, is produced by Jane Zheng with backing from Liang Jing and Guan Hu’s Seventh Art Pictures. Zheng’s producing credits include Lulu Wang’s The Farewell, starring Awkwafina, and Cathy Yan’s Dead Pigs. 

Written by Liu Yining, the story revolves around a teenage girl, Liu Xian, who is left with her father for the summer when her mother gets a job in Africa. While her father is more interested in his relationship with the receptionist at his photography studio, Liu Xian strikes up a friendship with the receptionist’s daughter, Mingmei – a glamorous older girl who is training to be an air hostess and is adept at getting older men to shower her with gifts. 

Zhou Meijun (Angels Wear White), who is fast becoming China’s new indie queen, stars with Huang Ziqi playing Mingmei, Liang Jing and Liang Long. Matthieu Laclau (Only The River Flows) and Tsai Yann-Shan (The Last Queen) edited the film. 

DEADLINE: What were the origins of this project and how did you two meet? 

GENG ZIHAN: A Song Sung Blue is my graduation film from Beijing’s Central Academy of Drama and was written by my classmate, Yining. We wanted to tell a story about that period in your life which is sometimes crazy, often painful, but when you look back on that time, it’s also somehow beautiful. We submitted the project to CFDG Young Director Support Program and it won one of the top five prizes. That’s where we met Jane. 

DL: Jane, what made you decide to take on this project? 

JANE ZHENG: I was representing Seventh Art Pictures at the CFDG pitching forum. I was impressed by her sincerity when she got on the stage to pitch the project. It’s a story about young girls and she’s still a young girl [Geng was born in 1996] but she was even younger then. Then when we met off stage and she showed me the concept film, which featured the same actress, I could see that she had a real flair for telling stories in a visual way. When I presented the project to our executive producer Liang Jing, she really liked it. As one of the winners at CFDG, the project also received a prize of RMB1M ($136,000). 

DL: Are there any autobiographical elements in the story? Why did you set it in Harbin? 

GZ: Liu Xian is more like the writer, Yining, and I’m more like Mingmei, but I think most people will probably see a bit of themselves in both characters. Yining is from Harbin which is why we set the story there. But also it’s a coming-of-age story where the main character moves from a very secure environment into a world that seems quite wild, and Harbin offers that variety and wildness because it has a frontier feel with lots of different cultures and minority groups. 

DL: Colour seems to play a very important role in this film. Can you explain your thinking behind the colour palette and how it was achieved? 

GZ: We worked with a really great colourist, Yov Mor, who helped us work through many things in post-production. But we had this concept from the early stages that Liu Xian’s colour is blue and Mingmei’s is red. I also had a great collaboration with the cinematographer, Hao Jiayue, who studied at Beijing Film Academy and has worked with me on all my short films. Since 2016, we’ve made about one short film a year together so we really understand how to communicate with each other on what we’re trying to achieve. 

DL: There are hints that Liu Xian is sexually attracted to Mingmei but it’s never made explicit. Was that a decision taken due to censorship? 

GZ: It’s not easy to tell LGBT stories in China but we were more interested in that fact that Liu Xian is at a stage in her life when she doesn’t understand or have any way of defining her feelings. It’s an age of exploration and confused emotions and we thought the ambiguity was much more interesting than spelling out to the audience what the characters feel. 

DL: What’s the current situation in China for emerging filmmakers? 

JZ: It’s never easy, but it’s more difficult now after the pandemic because a lot of companies have run out of money and don’t want to take a risk on new directors. When times are good, you find that companies may support new talent and not expect a return on their investment, but now everyone is looking to make their money back on more commercial films. 

DL: But there are many interesting films from first-time directors here in Pingyao.. 

JZ: Yes, but they were all made two or three years ago. A Song Sung Blue was shot in 2021. I think at least for this year and maybe next year as well, it’s going to be difficult. 

DL: Where is A Song Sung Blue travelling next and do you expect to have a theatrical release in China? 

JZ: After Pingyao, we’re showing the film at Tokyo International Film Festival and it’s also been nominated for best cinematography at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. We’re trying to release it in China but so far we haven’t found a good distributor. Even with the Cannes selection, everyone is very fixated on business and recovering the money they lost during the pandemic, so it’s difficult to find distributors willing to take a risk. 

DL: What was the reception to the film like here in Pingyao? 

GZ: This was the first screening in China and quite honestly my expectations were low because the Chinese critics and audience can be quite mean. In fact, they’re a much tougher audience than the one I had to face in Cannes. But in the end the film was very well received here, which was a huge relief. 

DL: What are you working on next? 

GZ: I’m writing a love story between a man and a woman, but it’s a very extreme, ‘til death do us part’ kind of love. It’s set in northern China because I want to see different cities in the winter. I’m writing the script myself but also consulting with Yining. [The project Fiery Eyes, Cold Embrace recently picked up three awards at SIFF Project in Shanghai International Film Festival].

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Source: DLine

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