NYC Independent Film Festival - Fern
A visually rich fashion film crossing the boundaries of music videos and experimental filmmaking. ‘Fern’ experiments with the subjective nature of reality and consciousness, telling a nightmarish tale of a relationship between two young lovers.
Interview with Writer/Director Xiao-Wei Lu
Watch Fern here:
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
My film and photography work have always been based around the distorted perception of reality and consciousness, largely based on my own experience of living with memory fragmentation and anxiety in the past. I find it fascinating how a sense of being in control could simply be tipped over the edge by the tiniest trigger, with our emotional and physical state being influenced by disruptive thoughts.
When Visionist and I met through a friend last year, we talked a lot about expressing the sensation of going through an anxiety attack in our work, which is how this collaboration started. In my case, it was like going through a trance and it could hit me at anytime. We were aiming to capture and recreate this sensation in this film, whilst exploring just how surreal and subjective reality can be.
This is the first independent film project that I've written, produced and directed with the support of an amazingly talented group of cast and crew. The goal was to create a sensual film that deals with emotions that stretch beyond the crude aspect of typical narrative.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Because it’s beautiful, strange and creepy!
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
In a way, it is a very personal film as it’s largely inspired by my personal experience on memory lost and the anxiety episodes that came with it. It may seem to be a unique situation. However, anxiety has become a common issue among people nowadays. I believe it’s a subject that people could relate to one way or the other.
I think by creating this film, I’m not trying to point people to look at “my story”, instead ‘Fern’ is a film to invite people to start a conversation on this subject matter.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
As the aim of this film is to create a mood and visualising the sense of being in the middle of an anxiety attack, it was actually quite challenging to transform those thoughts and feeling into text on the paper. The sense I wanted to present in this film was like going through a trance for me – it was very intense when you’re in the middle of it but it’s hard to remember that feeling precisely afterwards – it’s foggy and dreamy. Maybe it’s something to do with the Self-Defense Mechanism?
Also I was trying to find the balance between keeping the loose narrative and the more experimental method to express the mood and making it relatable and interesting. So the initial scripting process actually took the longest compare to production and post – it took me about a year and a half to come up with a plan I’m happy with.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
Pretty positive really, I love how people often have their own interpretations on what exactly happened in the film, and it really helped me gain fresh perspectives towards my work by listening to their theories.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
As mentioned, I really enjoy how I could decode the narrative in the film by the audiences’ feedback – sometimes it’s close to the original concept / message and sometimes completely different. I intentionally presented this film with the aim to create a mood rather than telling a constructive story, as I want the audience to experience it in their own ways.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
I’d really love to encourage other filmmakers and artists to use their craft as a tool for expressing and healing their mental health issues. I personally find it extremely helpful. I hope this project is inspiring in that sense.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
I’m currently working on my next film, which is a short documentary about this amazing group of women working in a controversial industry. What they do is very artistic but often misrepresented in modern society. Can’t give too much away at this stage… but the film will be out this summer, stay tuned!
Interview: May 2018
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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
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Fern
A visually rich fashion film crossing the boundaries of music videos and experimental filmmaking. ‘Fern’ experiments with the subjective nature of reality and consciousness, telling a nightmarish tale of a relationship between two young lovers.
Length: 00:04:21
Director: Xiao-Wei Lu
Producer: Xiao-Wei Lu, Hannah Bailey & Emma Borgerding
Writer: Xiao-Wei Lu
About the writer, director and producer:
Xiao-Wei Lu is a Taiwanese film director and photographer based in London, whose work explores the relationship between memory, dreams and reality.
Key cast: Portia Ferrari, Liam Gardner
Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists):
Social media handles: @xiaoweideerlu
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/xiaoweilu1987
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xiaoweideerlu/
Other: xiaoweilu.com
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month?
Hunger TV (hungertv.com)