M eet the M e n t o rs
THE ‘MEET THE MENTORS’ Q&A
Du, Xiao’ou
Mme Du, Xiao’ou, Chinese screenwriter
Personal impression by Xiaojuan Zhou About two years ago, encouraged by a few friends, I started this series of Meet the Mentors interviews, or - in my own words - a sort of “around the world in 80 interviews” in children’s cinema. I intentionally sent out very similar questions to my interviewees in various countries and, not to my surprise, received very different answers which were candid, thought provoking or instructive. It’s a humble effort to preserve the precious heritage in an area that we all cherish, for ourselves and many others to come. As the list of mentors goes on, I started to look at China where I was born and grew up. What films impacted me when I was young? What
kind of Chinese filmmakers were/are still there who care about movies for the 300 million children in this populous nation? I would have loved to speak to Wu, Tianming about his mesmerising THE KING OF MASKS but unfortunately this reform-minded filmmaker passed away years ago. Another accomplished director that came to mind was Mme Wang Junzheng whose LETTER FROM HEAVEN, a gentle inter-generational story set in Beijing, moved millions to tears, myself included. After so many years, my emotions for her film were still so overwhelming that it felt more appropriate to keep her for an in person chat, one day. Recommended
by a Chinese friend, I was put in touch with Mme Du. I happened to have seen THE SEPTEMBER OF MINE, one of the films she co-wrote, and I remember it particularly because in that film, a school teacher acted like an innocent kid. He was awkward and playful, unlike other adults portrayed then on the Chinese screens, who were perfect and uptight from the same mould. Did that represent a turning point in terms of realistic character description for Chinese children in the new era? The scriptwriter answered my questions diligently. Thanks to my UK educated friend Henry Luo, her replies were adeptly translated from Chinese to English. !
Please describe your childhood and its relationship with cinema. Du, Xiao’ou: Your question made me seriously reconsider my childhood days. Back then, I watched a lot of stage plays, which may have led me to studying at the
THE SEPTEMBER OF MINE
24 | Journal 2 | 2022
