Featuring rare archive and extraordinary testimony from former Red Guards and Rebels, here is a powerful parable of China in the twenty-first century.

Interview with Writer/Director/Producer Nick Torrens

Photo: Main subject Zhang Lei at home

Congratulations! Why did you make your film?

During the mid-1990’s when I started the film, China was fast becoming the nation most crucial to the world’s future. But in the West, our information and our attitudes toward China were filtered through the selective agendas of news, current affairs and factual television which follows formulas & interposes western Presenters between the subject and the audience, obstructing genuine empathy and deep understanding. To present deeper insights I commenced filming inside stories that could reveal the bigger long-term picture: stories of ordinary people in China. The aim was to carry the voices of the people themselves showing how their lives are affected by the forces under which they live It was to be neither polemic nor outsider analysis, but an exploration of evidence from within.

How do personal and universal themes work in your film?

The over-arching themes of the growing generation gap in China, and the lack of knowledge by the younger people about what happened before and during the Cultural Revolution are seen and told by the younger film subjects themselves, in their very personal and candid stories.

How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?

The “3 dreams” idea was established at the beginning, the process of Zhang Lei investigating China's history slowly evolved as she realized that to truly understand why she was so unhappy - and so “different” (she felt) from her contemporaries - she would have to investigate her own past from childhood at the end of the Cultural Revolution when she lost touch with her parents.. The deeper into this she went, the more she (and I) realised that it was not just HER story, but the story of China

What type of feedback have you received so far?

Wonderful feedback. For general audience response internationally, there is much Press and responsea I can present.

Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?

The surprise from the subjects and families screening feedback was that, although I promised the film would not be screened in China to protect them, most said they would like it to be! Though it was pointed out that China TV and authorities would not allow it. From international screenings feedback ranged from France ("Monsieur you made this film to atone for your guilt as a young man admiring Mao-Tse-tung”) to The US, where almost every interviewer wanted to know how and why the government in China cracked down on those opposed to the “official” line of thought. I spoke of how the West is similar - especially the USA, and referenced Chelsea (Bradley) Manning, Edward Snowdon, Julian Assange et al being labelled traitors etc etc).

What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?

I hope We Are Moving Stories may help more people to see the film. Having spent 20 years on this project with the specific intent of allowing Australians (and others) to be able to see a deeper, clearer view of life inside China, I found when completed that I had gone past the time that TV in this country would show documentaries of this kind, having prioritised factual entertainment - especially formerly wonderful ABC and SBS - after the Howard government’s pressure for better ratings became part of the prerequisite for Government funding.

Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?

Journalists, buyers and exhibitors.

What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?

An impact that builds an awareness 1) of the social/political realities for ordinary peoplein China, and 2) the understanding of how tragic is our loss as a viewing audience of genuine home-made documentary on our public broadcasters.

What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?

Why can’t we see open-ended Australian non-fiction programs on TV that don’t have Presenters, narrators and formulas, and about anywhere in the world, made by Australians.

What are the key creatives developing or working on now?

I am working on 3 main projects, one in China, the other 2 not. One is a privately-financed feature on metaphysical subjects, the other a series with ARTE in France on the meaning of water to various global cities.

Interview: June 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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China’s 3Dreams

Featuring rare archive and extraordinary testimony from former Red Guards and Rebels, here is a powerful parable of China in the twenty-first century.

Length: 87 mins

Director: Nick Torrens

Producer: Nick Torrens

Writer: Nick Torrens

About the writer, director and producer:

Nick Torrens is a leading Australian producer-director-writer, author of original, award-winning non-fiction film, with subjects in Asia, Australia, Africa, Europe, the US and Canada. His films observe the intimate lives of ordinary and extraordinary people - and the dramatic, unexpected worlds they inhabit. As well as singing and filmmaking, he earned a living working on Greek fishing boats, German building sites as worker and photographer, as a Dresser in London theatre on Oh Calcutta! and he ran a well-known bar in Paris.

Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists): Buyers

Social media handles: Culture, History, Human rights, Politics, China, Asia, Avant-garde, Social Issues, World Cinema, Independent Film, Philosophical, Psychology, Poetry, Education, Historical Archive

Facebook: Nick Torrens

Other: www.nicktorrensfilms.com

Funders: FFC Special Doc Fund, Private investors, Screen NSW, Producer/Director

Made in association with: Amazingly in the current doc climate, nobody

Where can I see it in the next month? Melbourne Documentary Film Festival, 15 July