Sleepwalker
In 2014, the Sunflower Movement took place in the filmmaker’s hometown, Taipei, Taiwan, where activists occupied the parliament in protest of the government signing a trade deal with China. Half a decade later, while living abroad and feeling homesick, she came across some archival footage of it, which forced her to confront her complicated feelings for home, ignorance about politics, and failure to be fully present no matter where she was. Through this intimate essay film, she tries to answer the question, "What does it take to stay awake when the reality is tough and home is far away?"
Interview with Writer/Director Andrea Yu-Chieh Chung
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
The year I started developing the film, 2019, marked the 40th anniversary of China and the U.S. establishing official diplomatic ties. I was living in the San Francisco Bay area, and there were many events taking place to celebrate the occasion. For me as a Taiwanese, it was not a joyous time – when the U.S. established official diplomatic ties with China, it cut ties with Taiwan. I felt like the celebrations erased my country from the conversation. At that point, I had been living abroad for almost half a decade, and while I was looking for words to articulate my feelings, I came up short. I realized I really didn’t know much about the place I grew up in, at least not as an adult. This film documents my process of rediscovering the place I call home and rethinking the meaning of home.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
If you have ever felt homesick but didn’t know which home you were missing, beat yourself up for being distant from “home” or not knowing it as well as you would like, and tried to find words in the several languages you speak to articulate these feelings to no avail, I hope you will watch this film and find solace that there are others that feel the same way, too.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
The film is autobiographical, and so it is deeply rooted in my personal experience of living away from my home country, Taiwan, reflecting on my understanding of it as a child and relearning about it from afar as an adult, all within the very specific context of the unstable political situation between Taiwan and China. I believe the feelings of homesickness, finding your footing in the world as a young adult, and the conflict between wanting to spread your wings but also staying close to your roots are universal. The importance of languages and food to our understanding of ourselves is also a prominent theme in the film.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
I would say out of all the films I’ve made, "Sleepwalker" is the one that changed the least during its development, perhaps because I had a very clear vision for it from the beginning. I knew I wanted to make the film with archival footage, structure it in chapters that are loosely connected but don’t necessarily have clear cause and effect relationships. I wrote the voiceover before thinking about the imagery I would like to use to convey the feeling of estrangement and confusion. While the voiceover went through multiple rewrites, the content is mostly the same. I spent most of the time making the script more condensed, deleting unnecessary context, and figuring out a clear logic of when to read the voiceover in English, and when to do it in Mandarin. In terms of the imagery, I initially planned to have distinct visual styles for each chapter of the film. However, as I began filming, I accidentally got a few shots of people’s reflections and silhouettes in the city, and I loved how these images hinted at the idea of sleepwalking, so I made it a recurring visual cue throughout the film.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
Many viewers have told me that they had similar experiences of living away from home and could strongly relate to the themes explored in the film. At almost every screening, someone from the audience would want to discuss my choice of using both English and Mandarin in the voiceover, which I truly appreciate, as that is one of the few original visions I had for the film that survived the production process.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
I am pleasantly surprised by how the film resonated with the audiences, as I thought the political situation between China and Taiwan – which is a pretty prominent part of the film – might be too specific and foreign for some viewers. However, the feedback reinforces what many of my mentors often say – that the more specific you get, the more universal the film is.
When I first started making the film, I was trying to cram a lot of facts and historical context about the political situation. I thought I was making a film to educate people about that, but the feedback I have received also shows that the film is not about politics, but rather about a sense of longing, which is a universal feeling that most people can relate to, with or without any knowledge about my specific experience. It also reminds me that while films can educate people, the most important thing they should do is to move people emotionally, and then perhaps that would inspire them to learn more about the context.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
So far, the film has only been screened at film festivals, so I am very excited for this opportunity to reach more audiences who might be interested in the film but are not necessarily festival-goers. As with all my films, I hope this one evokes some hidden feelings, sparks a few new ideas, and gives my fellow sleepwalkers the strength to open their eyes and reconnect with the present.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
I am seeking an executive producer, distributors, or sales agents that can help find an online home for the film.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I hope the film resonates with people who are far away from home – both in the physical and metaphorical sense – and gives them some relief. I would love for the film to be an invitation for the audience to re-examine their relationship with their home – however they define it – and connect with the world around them in a new, and more profound way.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
How do we stay connected to “home” even when we’re far away, and what if “home” is not what we think it is anymore?
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
Last December, in the middle of the pandemic, I was lucky to work as one of the producers on "When We Gather," a multifaceted art project that celebrates the role of women in ushering in sweeping political change across the United States. The project is led by Cuban artist, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, in collaboration with Okwui Okpokwasili and LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs. They originally envisioned the piece to be a live performance staged around the White House, but because of the pandemic, we transformed it into a short art film with an accompanying behind-the-scenes documentary. Now, as the world slowly opens back up, we are organizing in-person screenings and live performances, and developing educational materials, in the hopes of reaching more people with the central message of this project: heal, unite, create.
I am also currently producing a documentary short, "Bodies of Light" (working title), directed by Kira Dane and Katelyn Rebelo, in collaboration with Roger Ross William’s production company, One Story Up. The film is about the many ways light is taken, manipulated, and commodified in New York City. We just finished principal photography, and the film is scheduled to be released on Topic by the end of the year.
Interview: July 202
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
Sleepwalker
Length:
9:02
Writer/Director/Producer
ANDREA YU-CHIEH CHUNG is a Taiwanese documentary filmmaker based in the New York metropolitan area. Having lived and produced films across four continents, she is passionate about telling stories of people who are in between places, and those who strive to understand and overcome differences. Andrea holds an MFA in Documentary Film and Video from Stanford University and has screened her films at festivals around the world, including London International Documentary Festival, Sharjah Film Platform, and Cinequest Film Festival.
Looking for:
sales agents, distributors, producers
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/andrea.yuchieh.chung
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/andreaycchung
Twitter:
https://www.twitter.com/andreaycchung
Hashtags used:
#shortfilm #film #documentary #migration
More info:
Made in association with:
Made in the MFA program in Documentary Film and Video at Stanford University.
Where can I watch it now?
The film has completed its run in festivals and we are currently seeking online distribution. Follow the director’s website https://www.andrea-chung.com/ for updates, or you can always reach out for a private screener.