Reel Asian Film Festival: From the Director of Couple's Portrait《情侶照》
Notes from the Director, Hao Cheng
Translated by the Fete Chinoise Team
Photography Courtesy of the Reel Asian Film Festival
Fête Chinoise has selected our top pick from the short films screening at the Reel Asian International Film Festival 2020. An unprecedented year for many especially film festivals around the world, the format of the film festival will change to virtual access only. Still, you can enjoy the talents of these Asian directors and filmmakers this month. Below is our interview with the documentary filmmaker of one of our favourite shorts playing at the Reel Asian Film Festival 2020, Hao Cheng.
傳播文化，電影是最直接、最動心的媒體；每年11月舉行的多倫多亞洲國際電影節致力將全球亞洲電影的精華展示给北美觀眾，藉以把亞洲文化帶到北美。今年，以迎合疫情新常態，電影節將進化至上線形式舉行，讓觀眾可以安座家中，欣賞到亞洲電影製作人的熱誠。 Fête Chinoise 亦在芸芸參展短片中，揀選了本年度令我們最動心的短片——《情侶照》，以下是我們與該作品導演程顥的對話，只有欣賞過，你才會明白情侶照以外的不思量自難忘。
Still from Couple’s Portrait. Canada, China. 2020. 3 min. English, Cantonese, Mandarin with English Subtitles. Documentary, Family, Family-friendly, Open Captions
What made you take on this project with Dva Liu?
Dva, the main protagonist of the short, is a good friend and we work together. In 2018, we returned to China together and this is where the idea of taking “couple portraits” with her grandfather began and this is when she asked me to film as well. Losing her paternal grandmother a few years earlier inspired Dva to do this project.
She was always very close to her grandparents. When her grandmother was diagnosed with cancer, she found out many things about her grandma that she never knew of before — such as her love for coffee. Dva then came to the revelation that her grandfather is someone whom she’s known of her whole life but whom she didn’t fully understand. That’s why he became the subject of these “couple’s portraits.” For part of this journey, Dva and her grandfather visited the familiar places of his life where he told her more about the significance of these places and his life. These moments which added to her memories of her grandfather were captured with photographs and recordings in a “couples portrait” style.
It was truly moving for me to be a part of this project and witness these two generations interact with one another. Sadly, I wasn’t able to edit the footage before Dva’s grandpa passed away due to illness. I felt that it was very important for me to tell this story of a relationship between a grand parent and grand child in our fast-paced world. And I hope that as people watch it, they may cherish those around them in a timely manner.
Dva也是一位影視廣告創作者，我們是工作上的搭檔和生活中的好友。在2018年我們共同回國工作了一段時間，Dva萌生了這個跟爺爺拍“情侶照”的想法，並且拜託我隨行拍攝。她曾經對我口述過有這個計劃的初衷是有感於幾年前她奶奶的去世。
Dva和爺爺奶奶有很深厚的感情。在她奶奶罹患癌症期間，她有一天推著奶奶的輪椅二人散步聊了很久，然後她驚訝地發現奶奶的很多生平和喜好作為孫女的她是從未了解過的：比如奶奶喜歡喝咖啡。Dva意識到爺爺也是她認識了一輩子卻不夠了解的家人。從而產生了希望跟爺爺做更多能突破表面的親密、重新認識的活動“情侶照”。這次有意識的旅途中的一部分Dva還帶著爺爺重返一些對他有意義的地方，聽他敘述他的生平並且用比較有儀式感的合照和影片留下更多跟爺爺的記憶。
知道了她的初衷想法之後，我也被這樣的情感和思考方式感動了。隨即與她踏上了回程旅途，並且充當了這個事件以及她們爺孫兩代人情感的見證人。很遺憾的是在拍攝了這些影像資料的不久後爺爺急病去世了。
後來在我們做了其他一些項目之後，覺得這個故事和它最後意料之外的發展其實都是對親人之間、尤其是年輕人與老年家人的情感建立有意義的。於是重新把這些資料整理成冊，希望讓更多人看到後可以及時地去關愛他們珍惜的人。
What nuances do you hope viewers will notice upon watching your short?
This film showcases Dva’s sincerity towards her elderly grandfather and at the same time, represents the sincerity towards my perseverance of my vocation as a documentarian. I’ve always trusted in the power of documentary images and film. This inherent power comes from life and the emotions that come from life, which are always around us and growing with us. It is my hope that through film, I can share an attitude of sincerity — a sincerity towards feelings and sentiments.
我一直相信紀錄影像的力量。這力量來源於鮮活的生命以及與其相生的情感，而這一切每時每刻都發生在我們的身邊，與我們一同生長。我希望可以在影片中傳達一種真誠：真誠地來面對一份情感。這是Dva在面對她古稀的爺爺所付出的真誠，同時也是我作為一個記錄者所堅持的真誠。
What has 2020 taught you as a human firstly, and secondly as a director?
In early 2020, when COVID-19 broke out in Wuhan, I was with my family in China and we followed the news reports daily. This kind of anxiety was unprecedented. My work was completely suspended due to the lockdown, which allowed me to slowly return to life. I slowly returned to family and to myself and began to care more about those around me: finding ways to show my love to them. The happiness I felt cooking for them, conversing with them, and interacting with them is irreplaceable. Having the opportunity to reconsider the meaning of life, it also created inspiration for my future work.
This year, I was very encouraged after being selected to be a part of the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival. Familial affection between grandparents and grandchildren was one of the themes of this work and I see it as a blueprint for future works. This blueprint gave me clarity about the sincerity of the works I wish to produce in the future. As to my documentaries, I have never felt that I am a director but more so an observer to stories.
2020年初，疫情剛剛在武漢爆發的時候，我在中國與我的家人一起度過。每天關注著新聞裡對疫情的報導。那種焦慮感是前所未有的。由於禁足導致工作完全停擺，這讓我慢慢的回到了生活中。慢慢地回歸到了自我與家庭，開始更加關注身邊的親人，想方設法的去表達對她們的愛。為家人做飯、與她們交流、互動，這樣的快樂與幸福感是無法取代的。這段日子裡，我對生命的意義的思考，形成我日後創作的契機。
這次入圍 Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival 對我個人而言是一次肯定與鼓勵，讓我更加有信心的開展後續影片的創作。隔代的親情是我這次呈現的一個題材。我把它看過是今後創作的一個藍本，而這個藍本給予我的更多的是讓我意識到自己在創作中的那一份真誠。對於紀錄影像而言，我從來不覺得自己是一個導演的角色，而更像是一個善於梳理的見證者。
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