Florida International Film Festival / Arizona International Film Festival 2019 – Baba’s Next Chapter
As her father's retirement approaches, a student filmmaker living abroad attempts to bring a story, the father wrote, to life to prevent him from abandoning his one last creative passion...
Interview with Director/Producer Jamie C.X. Wang
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
I vividly remember the night my father messaged me, from the other side of the world, that he was going to retire. That was several months before his 60th birthday. The sundowning of my father's professional career was such a momentous moment for him, that I was inspired to consider if I could do something special in honor of his retirement. Considering I had almost never done something sentimental like this before, I wanted to prepare a gift that would really mean something to him this time. Coincidentally, at the time I happened to be taking my first-ever documentary-making class, and I was like, why don’t I use this chance to make something for my father?
I started brainstorming with a friend, Nicole, who ended up becoming the producer of this film. We decided that because my father loved writing, and at one time had been a prolific writer, I could try to adapt a small part of the novel he wrote into a short film, in order to encourage him to pursue this passion after retirement. This documentary was originally meant to simply chronicle the process of me collaborating with my father to make the film. However, in giving him the creative inspiration to try his hand at writing again, I found a story I was inspired to tell along the way. In the end, I didn’t actually get to finish the short film. But the documentary itself accidentally became the best gift for my father.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
While narrowly this film explores the evolving dynamics between me and my father, on a more fundamental level it tells a fairly universal story about the father and daughter, and how their relationship evolves over time. It is an intimate look at the journey I took to prevent my aging father, living across the globe, from abandoning his filmmaking dream. In this process, our respective lives and pursuits, and the nature of our relationship are explored and reflected upon.
Many people, after watching it, have told me that they could relate to it on a deeply personal level, both as parents and children. I think a significant part of it is that this film triggers resonating memories within us all. While watching it, the audience can go through a similar emotional journey I took, trigger their own reflections, and hopefully by the end, walk away with new perspectives on their own lives and relationships. I believe this applies to not just parents and kids, but any emotionally charged interpersonal relationship. If there’s someone you love or miss in your life, this film will bring your soul something sweet and thought-provoking.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
This film is partially about a real personal journey I took to build something new with my father. I came to realize in the end, that what’s important is not making a film for him or making him proud, but the effort we'd undertaken to maintain the creative relationship that could keep us connected. Although I mourn the old times I shared with him growing up, I have come to accept the unavoidable changes, learning a new way to rekindle our relationship by flipping into a new page together with him.
What I discovered is also a universal theme that can apply to more diverse human relationships: even our oldest relationships, the ones that are the most settled, can be transformed simply by opening a new chapter. Old wounds can be healed, and new journeys launched. In the process, you can discover the most amazing things about those you assumed you knew the most.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
I didn't really have a script before making this documentary, because it was meant to be a genuine documentation of the process of me preparing the gift for my father. Once I started shooting, I was inundated with a ton of ideas that could turn this film in many different directions. However, along the way, as I continued to collaborate with my father, reflecting on our lives and pursuits, I came to realize that the evolving nature of this relationship is what I hoped to chronicle. Although I still I had no idea how the final film would end up looking like, everything became much simpler over time. In the end, it all went back to the relationship itself, and that is what this story is really about.
Having realized this, the final narrative and structure were still not finalized, until I finally had the heartfelt moment that wasn’t meant to be caught on camera. Initially I didn’t plan on using that as a pivot point of the film, but eventually, I decided, that was my most important realization during this journey, and it’s something worth sharing with the audience.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
The most feedback I’ve gotten is that the film is very touching and the story is sweet and beautiful. Many people who’ve watched the film have made an effort to tell me, in person, how much they are moved by it and how much it makes them reflect upon their own relationships.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
The feedback has definitely surprised me. In particular, the way people relate to the story from very different angles is something I never imagined. I’ve had many people like me, a daughter or more, generally speaking, a child, telling me this film makes them want to call their parents right away. But I’ve also had people who are parents themselves, telling me it makes them think about their future relationships with their kids. Because I had only looked at the film from a child's perspective, I had never thought about the story's impact that way. Having said that, I'm very happy to know that it can speak to so many people.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
I hope more people will be interested in this film, and the story can reach a broader audience, who will in-turn use my story to examine their own.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
Basically, anyone who can help spread the message of this documentary is welcome (sales agents, distributors, festival directors, journalists). I hope the film can reach as many people as possible since I really hope to share what I’ve learned during the process with people around the world and maximize the story’s potential and influence.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I hope people from different nations, cultures, and backgrounds can get to watch the film, and it can at the very least offer some new perspectives to them. Maybe it can even help heal some broken hearts, mend some torn relationships, and inspire some people to reimagine the possible relationships they can share with those closest to them.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Relationships rarely stay the same over time. Can most of it be rebuilt or redefined so it stays strong? How much of an effort is it worth making?
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
Jamie C.X. Wang, the director of this project, is developing with her father a feature-length documentary titled 1978. It’s about the untold, chaotic journeys of a class of talented teens, before and after they made it into one of the best Chinese universities, the year China re-opened them after a decade-long Cultural Revolution that happened 50 years ago. She is also working on a sci-fi feature script with her co-producer Lionel M. Levine, about a story set in the futuristic Shanghai with the concept of body rental. The other producer, Nicole N. Nequinto, has been writing and making a new comedy series as part of a female of color comedy group One Outta Three.
Interview: April 2019
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Baba’s Next Chapter
As her father's retirement approaches, a student filmmaker living abroad attempts to bring a story, the father wrote, to life to prevent him from abandoning his one last creative passion...
Length: 9:42
Director: Jamie C.X. Wang
Producer: Nicole N. Nequinto
About the writer, director and producer:
JAMIE C.X. WANG is a California-based multidisciplinary artist with a focus on Filmmaking. Originally from China, she received an education in the U.S. in both the business and creative sides of film and television. She holds a masters degree in Entertainment Industry Management, and is pursuing post-graduate certificates in Directing and Producing. Jamie writes, produces, and directs both English and Chinese-language video content. She also works as an actress and model and travels frequently around the world.
NICOLE N. NEQUINTO grew up in Manila where she received her BA in Journalism. Throughout her life, she’s been interested in theater, film, television and anything that involved great storytelling. She moved to L.A. in 2016 to pursue filmmaking and has finished certificates in Screenwriting and Producing through UCLA Extension. Outside of film, she takes improv at UCB and produces a film, feminist, comedy podcast Dicking Around.
Key cast: Jamie C.X Wang (as herself), Jianping Wang (as himself)
Looking for: sales agents, distributors, journalists, film festival directors, buyers
Facebook: Baba's Next Chapter
Instagram: @jamie.cxw.film
Hashtags used: #babasnextchapter #indiedoc #shortdoc #docshort #documentaryshort
Website: rabbitunchained.com
Other: IMDb
Made in association with: Rabbit Unchained Productions
Funders: Self-funded
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? UCLAxFilmFest/Los Angeles - May 4, 2018