Focus on AFI Conservatory - Under the flag
A driven and conscientious girl at China’s premier dance school gets the lead position in a prestigious performance but struggles to accept it after she learns that her mother has bribed the teacher to buy her the part.
Interview with Writer/Director Jiawei Cheng
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
As a young, Chinese director, I’ve always been fascinated by the clash between the individual and the social system that commands the individual’s obedience. I met a group of 14 year old dancers in a rigorous and demanding dance program at one of the best art schools in China. I really felt for the girls, most of whom had been pushed into dance by their families and who were now under tremendous pressure to excel at dance, because they had missed out on a normal education that would have given them basic survival skills. I wanted to capture the moment in which an individual rises against this system of corrupt, cut-throat competition, and in the defeat of that individual by the system, I wanted to remind people of a time in which they may have resisted the injustice of whatever system they lived in, only to be defeated and absorbed by the system’s power.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
The world of Chinese education is fresh and has never been depicted authentically in film -- it is therefore a plunge into a unique world. It also highlights the cost of total subservience to social pressures, and is therefore a compelling watch.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
The story is personal to me as that of a young girl being pinballed around by the pressures of a winner-takes-all social machinery. And since we all know what it feels to be outsiders, trying to fit into a world that makes demands of us, my protagonist's struggle becomes a universal struggle.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
The script was developed over a year at AFI; our mentors guided us through various drafts of the story. We eventually settled for the high-octane world of Chinese dance, because we found it to be visually stunning.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
We have gotten into many film festivals --
— Winner, Student M.A. Award, Bolton International Film Festival
— Nominated for awards at the Prague Independent Indie Film Festival
— Screened at AFI Fest
— Selected to screen at the 17th In the Palace International Film Festival
— Selected to screen at New Jersey Film Festival
— Selected to screen at Tokyo Lift-Off Film Festival
— Selected to screen at Orlando Film Festival
— Selected to screen at the 10th Pune Short Film Festival
— Selected to screen at the SJFF’s 31st Film Festival
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
We are grateful that the film has been well received, that people are connecting with this world and this struggle.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
I'd like to share this story with as many people as possible, and to have people with diverse viewpoints appreciate the moral nuances of this world.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I would like for this film to get people to question social systems, to wonder whether it's worth sacrificing your identity in order to fit into a system.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Should one simply be what others want you to be? Or should one strive to maintain one's own morality and individualism when pushed by social forces?
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
YOUR BOY - Dramedy, feature
A disaffected fisherman in small-town China seeks fame and fortune in the world of rap music; He self-funds the superstar life to project the image required to climb the industry ladder, trying to stay afloat in a plastic world as he struggles to find himself.
Interview: July 2021
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
Under the flag
Length:
15:00
Writer
JIAWEI CHENG graduated from AFI with an MFA degree in Directing. She is also a graduate of New York University’s Tisch Film and TV program (Class of 2016). Her thesis film, ‘NEW YEAR’ won Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Actor at the Wasserman Award of NYU's First Run Film Festival. In 2017, Jiawei collaborated with Academy Award®-nominated documentary director Christine Choy for the film ‘LEGAL SMUGGLING’, which was selected in the 2016 New York Film Festival.
DHRUV KANUNGO graduated from AFI with an MFA degree in Screenwriting. He studied law in Mumbai and practiced real estate litigation before deciding to pursue a career in film and television. His feature screenplay, ’UNTOUCHABLE’ was a semi-finalist in the Universal Writers Program and in the Cinestory Feature Fellowship, and a finalist in the ScreenCraft Drama Screenplay Contest.
Director
JIAWEI CHENG graduated from AFI with an MFA degree in Directing. She is also a graduate of New York University’s Tisch Film and TV program (Class of 2016). Her thesis film, ‘NEW YEAR’ won Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Actor at the Wasserman Award of NYU's First Run Film Festival. In 2017, Jiawei collaborated with Academy Award®-nominated documentary director Christine Choy for the film ‘LEGAL SMUGGLING’, which was selected in the 2016 New York Film Festival.
Producer
Danwen Lei
Key cast:
Michelle Chung (Yiyi)
Looking for:
sales agents, journalists, producers, buyers
Made in association with:
AFI Conservatory