SXSW Special Jury Award for Excellence in Observational Cinema - Maineland
Chinese teenagers from the wealthy elite, with big American dreams, settle into a boarding school in small-town Maine. As their fuzzy visions of the American dream slowly gain more clarity, their relationship to home takes on a poignant new aspect.
Interview with Director Miao Wang
Watch Maineland on Prime Video
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
I made the film for reasons ranging from personal to sociological. This is part two of my trilogy on China’s rise and the West’s impact on China and vice versa. Beijing Taxi (SXSW 2010) was the first one. The personal motivation for the film comes from my own intimate experiences having come to the U.S. as a young teen, speaking no word of English, and trying to adapt into American culture and American high schools. The sociological aspect is a combined fascination with the lives of the Chinese elite, and the phenomenon of the enormous wave of Chinese students seeking to study abroad. The film became a great gateway for me to look at the perceptions of both sides through an engaging coming-of-age tale. I envisioned the finished film to reflect those insights back to both sides.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Watch it to revel in the gorgeous cinematography and the awkward but endearing humor of kids growing up! Several groups of audiences would have a ready interest in the film because they could immediately relate to the stories in the film: overseas Chinese students and families who have undergone or are undergoing this experience; American students, school staff, and families around the country who have encountered many of the Chinese or other international students but wanted to know their perspectives; Chinese students and families planning to study overseas could gain a better understanding of what this experience entails in reality.
You, as a general American audience member, should watch this film because everyone can relate in their own way through their own coming-of-age and high school experiences, but in the process you will gain insight into family, school life and culture in China, some of the differences and commonalities between China and the U.S., and what we can learn as well as gain from these kids’ experiences.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
My films usually depart from a very personal place but expand and manifest outwards to very universal themes and the larger socio-economic and cultural contexts of the world we live in. I have a very universal vision of humanity. I’ve crossed two very different cultures, and continue to live across these two cultures, this has made me a firm believer in a humanist perspective of the world. It is very important for me to highlight the universal themes of human interest such as family, education, and youth growing up while telling a story anchored in the personal lives of two teenagers.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development and production?
The making of this film required an immense amount of patience and persistence – teenagers are moody and unpredictable, and they don’t care to bend to your schedule. Their lives are rich, colorful and ever shifting, the very reasons why they make fascinating characters on screen. This also meant that we had to be very flexible and sensitive, sometimes riding along their emotional roller coasters or just waiting it out.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
The feedback has been very positive overall. Every person can relate to the film through their own personal lens. People find the film very engaging and provided them insight into both cultures. Many people noted how the film breaks down stereotypes and crosses and bridges the cultural divide.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
I’ve found it quite fascinating how each person’s own high school and education experience dictate how they perceive the teachers and education in the film.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
Making the film more visible helps to get the film out to a wider audience.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
We need buyers, broadcasters, theaters, distributors, film festivals, journalists, educational organizations to come on aboard to help amplify the message. We also need the general public to help spread the word widely.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
MAINELAND questions the expectations that Chinese families and the students themselves have about America, the discrepancies they experience, and the conflict that arises as a result. The film also raises some important questions: does studying abroad necessarily guarantee a better life for them? Some may integrate into American society; some may never make any non-Chinese friends, while some may return to China sometime after college as government or business leaders.
How will an overseas perspective change a new generation of young Chinese and what may be that lasting impact be on the future of China and the world? Could they perhaps eventually become part of a bridge across the cultural divide? What can the American peers, educators, and families learn and glean from these students’ experiences in this process? What conversations can we start in the classrooms and at home about the challenges and benefits of this kind of cultural and educational exchange, and how can we improve the experience for all parties involved? These are questions and impacts I hope to leave with the audience.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
What can schools do to better prepare the international students prior to their decisions about enrolling in an American high school? And what can schools do to better integrate these students once they arrive?
Would you like to add anything else?
The Maineland team is very honored to take home the Special Jury Award for Excellence in Observational Cinema from SXSW!
Interview: March 2017
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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series and music video. 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
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Maineland
Chinese teenagers from the wealthy elite, with big American dreams, settle into a boarding school in small-town Maine. As their fuzzy visions of the American dream slowly gain more clarity, their relationship to home takes on a poignant new aspect.
Length: 90 min
Director: Miao Wang
Producer: Miao Wang, Violet Du Feng, Damon G. Smith, Robert Chang
About the writer, director and producer:
Miao Wang premiered her award-winning first feature doc, "Beijing Taxi" at SXSW, screened at over 50 festivals with a US theatrical release, broadcast on PBS, and distributed by Sundance Artist Services. Wang is a fellow of the Sundance Institute, Jerome Foundation, NYSCA, the Tribeca Film Institute, and IFP.
Violet Du Feng (Producer) is an Emmy Award winning film producer and director involved mostly in non-fiction projects. Her recent films, including Please Remember Me and Nanking, have been showed around different film festivals in China and abroad including Sundance Film Festival, Tribeca Intl. Film Festival and the Golden Horse Film Festival.
Damon G. Smith (Producer) is a story architect, film producer, and co-founding partner at Cinelan, the award-winning digital-first media company. He was the curator and supervising producer of two high-profile short-film series, We The Economy and Focus Forward, which screened at over 90 film festivals worldwide, and has authored more than 200 articles for outlets such as The Boston Globe, Time Out New York, and Filmmaker Magazine.
Robert Chang (Producer) has been a producer on award-winning feature films that have premiered at Sundance and SXSW including Advantageous (Sundance 2015 Jury Prize Winner), Beijing Taxi (SXSW 2010), Half-Life (Sundance 2008), and Nae-boo-soon-hwan-seon “Inner Circle Line” (SXSW 2006 Jury Prize Winner). He also has experience as a board director, venture capital investor, and executive.
Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists):
Buyers, broadcasters, theaters, distributors, film festivals, journalists, educational organizations. We also need the general public to help spread the word widely.
Where can I see it in the next month?
IFFBoston in April!