This week I got the chance to sit down and discuss film with Taiwanese director/producer, Hsi Cheng, a recent graduate from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Her most recent film, Find Me, won the DOC NYC U Competition. Her film explores the subject of human trafficking in East Asia, particularly the case of Julie Chu from the early 80's. Together we discussed her work, her education, and what the next step is in her career.
Rua: "Thank you for joining us today, Hsi! Could we start with you introducing yourself?"
Cheng: "Hi, my name is Hsi Cheng, I'm a documentary filmmaker from Taiwan. I came to the US for college and I've been here for about five years. I started out doing more narrative films but around two years ago I started doing documentaries including my most recent one, Find Me. It was my college thesis project but I wanted it to be more than that. So right now I'm focused more on doing documentaries but I also produce narrative short films and music videos!"
Rua: "That's incredible, and you just graduated from the School of Visual Arts in New York?"
Cheng: "Yes, I graduated last year!"
Rua: "So aside from being a thesis, what inspired you to make Find Me?"
Cheng: "Like two years ago I was searching for a topic for my thesis, and I knew I wanted to do something that had a connection to where I'm from. I wanted to connect Taiwan to the place I now call home. I was looking for stories and I came across this video on Youtube where this person was talking about this case from the 80's about human trafficking. I knew human trafficking happened a lot in China but in Taiwan you don't hear about the topic that much. So it sparked the idea of 'I want to know more" especially in the country I grew up in. I started reaching out to people who were involved in this case and I found Cole, our documentary subject who also happened to be living in New York, and she agreed to be a part of the project!"
Rua: "That's amazing. I recently watched this documentary called It's A Girl that discusses how baby girls and daughters are treated in China and India. They're often seen as a burden on the family so they get abandoned or even killed simply for being female. And of course it's all made worse by the one-child policy in China."
Cheng: "Yeah, the reason why we hear so much about abandonment and trafficking stories in China has a lot to do with that policy. Taiwan didn't have that policy back in the day. I didn't really emphasize this in the doc but out of the sixty kids that were trafficked by Julie Chu, only one that we know of was male, the rest were girls."
Rua: "Unfortunately, that doesn't surprise me one bit."
Cheng: "That probably wasn't just due to the one child policy but just...the patriarchal society we live in. People would rather have a boy."
Rua: "How did you find the transition from living in Taiwan to living in the US? How did that affect you as a filmmaker?"
Cheng: "Well, I always knew I wanted to study film, it was a big influence on me ever since I was a kid. So I thought, 'I know what I want to study, I know what I want to do, where's the best place to do it?' First I went to Chicago and there was a lot of culture shock and it's hard not seeing your family. Like, there's phone calls but it's like a twelve hour difference so you have to schedule everything. It's basically what everyone goes through y'know going to college, being away from the familiar, it's exciting but it's also a big part of growing up. I think it's definitely good inspiration, I remember the first time I was here, my biggest shock was just people talking to me on the sidewalk because that was not a thing when I was growing up in Taiwan. I think everyone should try to live in a new place it's scary but also very inspiring. Leaving your comfort zone and your home country makes you realize what your own culture means to you. That's a big thing in Find Me, it's about leaving to find who you are. I feel like I learned more about my culture after I left Taiwan."
Rua: "That's exactly what my mom did when she was 20, she moved to the US from her home in Ireland. I've been traveling to and from Ireland since I was a baby and I really love having that cultural connection to another country, it broadens your perspective on the world. And it is just so incredibly impressive that you moved from as far away as Taiwan and are studying what you love in such a competitive country. Can you tell me if there were any documentaries that inspired Find Me?"
Cheng: "There were a few, I like true crime a lot so in the beginning I was thinking of the doc more from a true crime perspective, but when I started editing I realized it didn't really work. So it ended up being a film about a person rather than past events. I switched it to be more of a story about self discovery and personal growth. I really like the film Three Identical Strangers and a recent film called Between Goodbyes from Korea, that's also about international adoption and what happens after you find your family, how do you bridge the gap? That's definitely one of the bigger recent inspirations for me."
Rua: "Now, as someone who just graduated film school, what would you say is the most important thing you gained from that experience?"
Cheng: "For me, it's the people; the connections with your classmates. When you're a student you get to work together without worrying about how you're gonna pay everybody and you can explore your art together while making mistakes. That's the biggest thing for me, the people that you meet. It's nice to have that many people around you and not having to stress over things like scheduling or money or stuff like that."
Rua: "I couldn't agree more. I know this is a tough question, but do you have a favorite film?"
Cheng: "This one I saw recently called Black Box Diaries. It's a documentary film I would recommend a lot, it's nominated for Best Documentary at the Oscars. I just went to a special screening with the director present. It's about this Japanese journalist investigating her own rape case against a really powerful person in Japan. It's really heartbreaking. She's getting a lot of recognition now but they still won't show the film in Japan so there's a petition being signed to make that happen. It really shows just how difficult it is to do something like that even if you have all this evidence on your side, especially in Asian countries. Back home, the Me Too movement only happened like recently, and like three years ago in Japan but it's already been in the US for like eight or something. It's crazy that it's such a simple cause that's not taken seriously in a lot of places. I definitely encourage everyone to watch Black Box Diaries.
Rua: "Yeah, that's totally something I'll check out. Do you have any changes you'd like to see in the future of the film industry?"
Cheng: "More diversity, we need more diverse voices. I think the industry needs to pay more attention to original stories that are coming from these diverse people. I'd like to see more recognition for smaller, minority-led films so that diverse voices can tell their own personal stories. Does that make sense?"
Rua: "Absolutely! I feel like, at least in my own film education that a lot of the curriculum is focused on Western film like from Europe or the US when in reality there's so much incredible film from places like Iran. Brazil, Hong Kong, countries that don't get a lot of recognition. India has the largest film industry in the world but schools never touch on Bollywood. So I couldn't agree more, there's such a wealth of diverse voices that aren't being heard in the US."
Cheng: "We need more representation, for sure."
Rua: "Now, the last question I ask all of my guests is: what is your favorite swear word? Do you have any Taiwanese swears you can share with us?"
Cheng: "Hmm...There's this one that means like 'fuck your mother, 'gan ni nia.' I just really like it. It's similar in Chinese but Taiwanese is like a dialect so...yeah it's ga ni nia.
Rua: "Thank you, now I know how to say 'fuck your mother' in Taiwanese, I never thought I'd learn that. Thank you so much for chatting with us today Hsi.
Cheng: "Thank you for having me!"
To check out Find Me as well as Hsi Cheng's other work, visit her IMDB, Youtube, Instagram, and her website. Thanks again to Cheng for talking with us as a young up-and-c0ming filmmaker. Thanks for reading Cinemasters.net and remember to never stop watching!
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