alsolikelife's video: Meet the Filmmakers: Cui Zi en Part 4 of 4

From the "Meet the Filmmakers" series held in Feburary 2010 at the Apple Store in Sanlitun, Beijing. The series, co-presented by the Apple Store and dGenerate Films, is an ongoing series to showcase Chinas newest filmmakers powered by digital technology. Cui Zien is a director, film scholar, screenwriter, and novelist based in Beijing. He is an associate professor at the Beijing Film Academy. Cui Zien is a premiere avant-garde digital filmmaker in China. He has published nine novels in China and Hong Kong, and he is also the author of books on criticism and theory, as well as a columnist for magazines. Interview conducted by Jane Zheng. Videography by Michael Cheng. English transcription by Yuqian Yan. Q4: It is always very different to resist the temptation of fame and profit. How do you see these two things? CZE: I think a good artist should identify himself as lower-class. My definition of lower-class is different from proletariat, yet its not the same as middle-class either. The upper-class always have too much and dont know what to do; while the middle-class always get the exact amount. So I consider the lower-class as more creative. The so-called fame and profit, failure and success are just social constructions. When we are by ourselves or with several true friends, we are not judged by these criteria and therefore in the most natural status. For example, when we celebrate Chinese New Year with our family, no one really cares about whether weve succeeded or not. I always try to situate myself in such a condition where I can be free from worldly judgments. There are a lot of very successful film people around me, almost everyone in the Beijing Film Academy is only half step away from being a celebrity. But I always keep a certain distance from them and try to be true to myself. Im a Christian, and I think about the issue of death almost every day. My biggest wish is to be brave and truly happy when I die. This is the most important thing to me, and Im training myself every day. Q5: I only see your works about the subject of queer, and I think they are very different from other queer films without much emphasis on sexual desire. Many films that depict homosexual love are not that different from those about heterosexual love, and they only use the queer subject as a token to attract more attention. Whats your take on this? CZE: I dont think that the queer subject is that much different from other subjects. My reason for making films about that is because its too marginalized in China. I think its a very powerful subject because it is discriminated and repressed, not because its a popular theme right now. Im quite familiar with the international film circus, Im aware that many queer films emphasize on aesthetics, sexual desire etc. I intentionally work against this trend of queer cinema that gradually evokes your sexual desire first and then satisfy you. We call it double ejaculation, which means crying and masturbating at the same time. My films are always very straightforward without evocation for either sexual desire or tears, and Im personally very critical about this so-called double climax. This is the trick of commercial films or popular films. Q6: What kind of conclusion do you hope that people will make about you after you pass away? CZE: As I said, this world is a draft, as well as my life, so any conclusion will be even rougher than the draft of my life. I dont have any expectation for that. Thank you.