Chinese director Yang Qiu presented his first feature film “Some Rain Must Fall “ at this year’s Tribeca Festival in New York. The film depicts the story of Cai, a mother and housewife who deeply values her family, but whose life loses track and spirals out of control after an unexpected accident.
The film received the Encounters Special Jury Award at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival and premiered at the festival’s International Narrative Competition. Yang Qiu, a prominent filmmaker from Changzhou in China’s Jiangsu province, graduated from Griffith University and the Victorian College of the Arts. His debut film “The World,” released in 2013, gained recognition at various film festivals, including the Korean Asian Short Film Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival, and Odense International Film Festival.
His graduation project “Under the Sun” (2015) premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and screened at over 60 other international film festivals. In 2017, “A Gentle Night” won the Short Film Palme d’Or, making Qiu the first Chinese director to receive this honor. The film also earned the Best International Short Film award at the Toronto International Film Festival. His other well known film “She Runs” (2019) received the Leitz Cine Discovery Prize during Critic’s Week at Cannes. Sampan spoke with Qiu about his work.
Sampan: You mentioned in an interview that you shoot all your films in your hometown, Changzhou, China. Is this also the same for “Some Rain Must Fall”? Are the characters speaking in the Changzhou dialect? Is there a reason behind your location choices?
Yang Qiu : Yes, it’s in the same city, Changzhou. In “Some Rain Must Fall”, all the conversations between adults are in the local dialect, which is one type of Wu Chinese (Shanghainese is also Wu Chinese). And all the conversations that happen between kids and kids to adults are in Mandarin Chinese.
It is an unfortunate reality in my hometown. Because of my government’s movement to promote standard Chinese (Mandarin Chinese), less and less of the younger generation can actually speak the local dialect.
In my generation, we were taught only to speak Mandarin Chinese in school, but fortunately, I could speak the dialect with my parents at home. However, for the generations after me, most of their parents would only speak Mandarin to each other at home, so they would not be able to learn the dialect anymore.
Shooting in my hometown is quite an intuitive choice because all my films are inspired by stories from my own life, my family, or events I have experienced. So, it is natural to shoot in my hometown.
Sampan: “Some Rain Must Fall,” like many of your previous well-known films such as “A Gentle Night” and “She Runs,” appears to be told from a female perspective. Is there a particular reason for this?
Yang Qiu: The quickest answer would be that my films are always about character exploration. It is an opportunity for me to explore the complexity and vulnerability of humanity through these characters. And I just haven’t really found a male character that I’m interested in exploring.
Personally, I always had a very intense relationship with my mother while growing up. Difficult and intense. So, making these films about middle-aged housewives is a way for me to understand, explore, and deal with my relationship with my mother: who she is and where she comes from. And, in turn, a way to better understand myself.
Sampan: What inspired you to create “Some Rain Must Fall,” and what message do you hope to show your audience with this film?
Yang Qiu: I suppose the inspiration is my desire to understand this character, this ordinary middle-aged, full-time housewife (partially inspired by my mother), as a human being.
Full-time housewives or mothers are the people who are seemingly always around us in our lives but, at the same time, almost invisible. We only see them in the morning and at dinnertime. We never really know what they are doing most of the day. We don’t know what struggle they are going through, things they may have encountered and wishes they have given up on. They spent their whole life trying to take care of everybody else but themselves.
Sampan: Your films often feature semi-covered shots and have an artistic visual style. You mentioned having a background in painting. Can you share your approach or process for designing those frames?
Yang Qiu: I usually try to find inspiration for the overall atmosphere of my films from some of my favorite painters. One American master especially inspired this film, Edward Hopper.
When it comes to the shot design, most of it comes from organic instinct and a long location-scouting process. My cinematographer Constanze Schmitt and I usually would spend a long time on locations, taking many photos with stand-ins, trying to imagine how the scene would play out in the space. Then, we would sit down, go through the photos, and talk about shot lists with the photos.
For this film, one motif also influenced how we framed the main actress. The film explores different sides and shades of this woman and, through the journey, tries to find out who this woman really is (which is also the journey this woman takes in the film). So we tried to avoid shooting too many frontal shots but always tried to frame her from the side or behind.
Sampan: There are subtle hints of queer love in the film. Is there a particular message you want to convey with this?
Yang Qiu: The hint is what I want to give to the audience, and it’s up to the audience to digest it themselves. I think sexuality is an indispensable part of all human beings, even for middle-aged Chinese full-time housewives. But it’s only part of a person, one shade of the complex humanity.
Sampan: For those who can’t attend the Tribeca festival this year, is “Some Rain Must Fall” going to be available for a wider audience and along with your other work.
Yang Qiu: Yeah, my producers are working on making the film available to audiences from different regions. But, of course, the process always takes some time for a non-English film. My previous shorts are available on Amazon and Criterion channels.
Sampan: Is there any special memory of making “Some Rain Must Fall” you would like to share? Do you have any upcoming projects or plans?
Yang Qiu: I really enjoy the writing process. It’s the part where I have the most freedom and the most fun. The part where I get to explore the unknown, to explore all the shades of gray in humanity, almost without any restraint. It is the part where I get to spend time just daydreaming and waiting for inspiration to be given to me. I’m working on a new feature idea and a few new short film ideas.
Sampan: You’ve talked about making “art films under the system.” How have things changed over the years? What challenges are you facing now, and what risks are involved? How do you overcome them?
Yang Qiu: I think the censorship situation in China is constantly in flux. It’s tough to describe the situation in a short answer. I think the biggest difficulty in making a film outside the system is the financing and casting because, obviously, without passing censorship, the film can’t be released in the Chinese market. For this film, I suppose I haven’t encountered any risks so far because the film isn’t overtly politically sensitive, and we tried to do everything under the radar.
