"Documentary is My Lifelong Career” – an interview with Zhang Tianhui

This will be my last post for a couple of weeks as I'm off to Australia for a well-earned break. There are some changes afoot for 2011 which I'm hoping will give me more time to devote to Screening China. Until then – happy holidays!

But before I go...

Back in October I was lucky enough to catch a pair of documentaries by Zhang Tianhui at the Get It Louder Festival in Beijing. Both 7th Medical Ward and Farewell, Beijing (poster above) revealed Zhang's talent for sympathetically sketching his subjects while gently revealing their all-to-human failings. You can read my reviews of the films here.

After the screenings in Beijing, Zhang headed south to film the Asian Games in Guangzhou, so I was unable to interview him in person. He kindly took the time, however, to answer a few questions about his filmmaking via email – a translation of our interaction is below.

What is China? Looking Behind Things with Director Zhao Dayong

If you read my post on The High Life back in June, you'll know I'm a fan of director Zhao Dayong (pictured left, image by David Bandurski), one of the most innovative and intriguing filmmakers to have surfaced in China in recent years. Zhao's career began with the feature-length documentary Street Life in 2006, but he first attracted international attention with his following up film, the epic documentary Ghost Town, which I wrote about for RealTime. More recently Zhao unveiled his first dramatic feature, The High Life, at the Hong Kong International Film Festival in March, where the film won the Silver Digital Award and the FIRPRESCI Prize.