Zeqian Han

Q: Can you tell the audience about your career?
A: My apprenticeship started in Paris when the cameras still rolling in film instead of pixels. The pickiness of French filmmakers and the shortage of film stock made me feel the high pressure and strict logic in movie-making. The time and space in films seem more fleeting than life itself – often, the ideal shot hasn't been captured yet, but the film in the camera is already used up. To make it brilliant, you have to stay passionate and patient.

In 2016, my short film A Chestnut launched my film festival journey and got me noticed in the industry. The protagonist has a head like a chestnut, hitting the hardest stone on Sisyphus' back. It's like a microcosm of an ordinary film director's career – pursuits that others can't understand, an inexplicable sense of mission.

When the COVID pandemic started, I was stuck in distant South America over six months. In Peru, I made my first feature film debut. It's a mocumentary depicting people's experiences and struggles during the pandemic. This film, Observation, won various awards at international film festivals and was praised by the industry as "a masterpiece by a true film revolutionary."

With brand-new film concepts, I created my latest film Gone with the Crowd. It has a strange and profound magic that can pull you into a long-lost world of light and shadow.

Q: How many years have you been making movies?
A: Thirteen years. It's actually more mature than my psychological age.

Q: Why did you start making movies?
A: I’ve always been a film fanatic growing up and that’s why I went to Paris to study film-making, but I wasn’t sure if I could be a film director until I made my first student short film. My classmates didn't understand what I was filming. The script had no dialogue, just some simple scene descriptions. Only after we watched the film’s final scene together , they got what I was trying to do- we all knew what it was, but couldn't express it with words, text, or paintings – only movies have the magic do that. That's why I'm obsessed with making films.

Q: Tell us a bit about your project. What will the audience see in your film?
A: You'll see a vast, empty city with only one human being, wondering around alone; the loneliness in human hearts; how our lives go with the flow; and the symbolic world behind reality. It's wonderful and hard to put into words.

Q: Why did you do this project?
A: I wanted to describe my life and the experiences of people around me. I wanted to see where our lives come from and where they're going. If I don't record this journey now, I’m afraid that I’ll forget it soon.

Q: Some directors have problems directing actors, especially amateurs. How do you view this? How do you work with them?
A: If a director constantly pushing their ideas, you will notice the actors in the film will subconsciously mimic them and the audience just watch different versions of the director in their movies. But with amateur actors, it is a completely different story.

Listening is the start and the key. You have to learn to be silent and let others talk. It's an emotional communication process, crucial for building trust. With professional actors, you can guide their performances. With amateurs, they're guiding you on how to film their most authentic selves – isn't that why you chose them?

Q: A good movie needs to balance all departments, but we can't always allocate all resources to good photography, sound post-production, or hiring actors. How did you allocate resources (money and time) in your project?

• Direction: 20%

• Photography: 15%

• Sound: 15%

• Postproduction: 20%

• Working with actors: 20%

• Art direction/locations: 10%

Q: If you could go back, what would you change about this project? (Just one thing)
A: I'd give the documentary parts more shooting time and pay more attentions.

Q: What are you most satisfied with in this project?
A: The film's structure. It's rare – the documentary parts, real-life scenes, and surreal dreams are perfectly woven together, hitting the audience's mind with a powerful impact and joy.

Q: Make a wish to the movie gods. What would you ask?
A: I'd ask the movie gods to give every filmmaker a chance to be seen. Movies would thrive forever because of that.

Q: What movie would you have liked to direct?
A: I'd love to direct Alain Resnais' Providence. To me, it's a masterpiece but I felt there is something could be done in ending scene that may complete the film even more. The original ending is a turning point and after the imagery of memories ends, I'd film the characters' lives realistically, no matter how long the movie gets. But I love that movie so much and wish I could be the director, lol.

Q: What type of movies do you like? Any favorite directors or actors?
A: I love visionaries, not the rule-followers. The geniuses like Luis Buñuel and Michael Powell, they're one of a kind.

Q: If all movies were about to disappear and you could save only three, which would you choose?
A: None. If something's meant to go, let it go completely. Honestly, everything in the world will fade away naturally. It's inevitable.

Q: Do you have other projects in the works? Can you share anything?
A: After Gone with the Crowd, I took a break from creating and stored up a lot of emotions and insights until I got a high fever and it knocked me out for a week. I felt I lived another life or have a really long dream. When I recovered, I can only recall some of these fragmented images. Those images and the feeling in my mind will be the inspiration of my next project.