Filmmakers competing in the Asia New Talent section of the 28th Shanghai International Film Festival gathered at a press conference to discuss the inspiration and methods behind their four films, which range in subject matter from marginalized communities in the Arab world to humans’ relationship with the natural world.
Zaid Abu Hamdan, director of the Jordanian film “Boomah,” said his main character was born from real-life encounters with three women he met on the streets of Jordan. The film depicts an orphan girl at the bottom of a patriarchal society’s struggle for power while dealing with family trauma and identity issues. Producer Ahmad Abu Koushu expressed confidence that the film’s emotional core would translate across linguistic and cultural boundaries, and asserted that audiences around the world would recognize the suffering depicted in the film.
“Each of them carried the scars of a difficult childhood, but beneath their hardened exteriors, they longed for love, home and someone to care for them,” Abu Hamdan said. “That contradiction, harshness and tenderness, is exactly what many marginalized people share.”
The Indian film “Hunter’s Moon,” directed by Ridham Janve, takes a different approach, centering on a hunter who returns after discovering that his hidden prey has been disturbed. Jeanvet, who often sets his films in mountain landscapes, described nature in his films as acting as a mirror that either compliments or humbles his human subjects. Producer Kartikeya Narayan Singh said the production team extended environmental concerns to the shoot itself, using no plastic materials and doing all the work on solar power.
Also in attendance were the makers of “Strangers in the Mountain” and “Her First Taste,” two Chinese productions that received support from the SIFF project in the past three years. Director Wang Bo said “Strangers in the Mountain,” a suspense film that begins with a cold case seven years ago, uses the region’s unique dialect to differentiate the characters and draws on the visual grammar of traditional Chinese ink painting through repeated black-and-white sequences.
“Language is so deeply rooted in the character’s development that it cannot be separated from the character,” Wang said. “The environment and geography in which each character grew up gives them a unique charm.”
Her First Taste, directed by Gong E-wen, is about a young girl obsessed with writing who navigates her identity and first love on campus. Gong said he adopted a documentary-style approach, asking the actors to internalize their lines and then abandon them, making their actions on set seem spontaneous.
Producer Qian Yi-ni said, “We put a lot of effort into casting, and the final cast members gave great performances. This film reminds us of the deep emotional connections we have with our closest friends, and we hope viewers will have the same experience.”
