"32+4" is a documentary graduation project by director Chen Qiaozhen at the School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong. The film won the Principal Prize at the 61st Oberhausen International Short Film Festival. Divided into six chapters, the documentary showcases the director’s relationship with her family of origin and their living conditions. As a child, the director lived apart from her family, and at the age of 12, she moved to Hong Kong, entering a strange household while experiencing her parents' divorce and her mother's remarriage. Despite the divorce, her parents continued living in the same building. During her college graduation year, the director picked up a camera in an attempt to uncover the hidden history of her parents.
In this interview, CiLENS member Su Yuanxi talks with director Chen Qiaozhen about the creative process behind the documentary, the relationship between documentaries and truth, the power of documentary as a medium, and reflections on the concept of “home.”
32+4 (2014)
Director: Chen Qiaozhen | Short/Documentary | Hong Kong | 32 minutes Cantonese/Teochew with Chinese and English subtitles | Berlin Premiere
Awards and Screenings (Selected)
61st Oberhausen International Short Film Festival | Principal Prize 34th Vancouver International Film Festival
52nd Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival
14th ifva Hong Kong Independent Short Film & Video Awards | Gold Award
52nd Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival
14th ifva Hong Kong Independent Short Film & Video Awards | Gold Award
Synopsis
The director spent her childhood separated from her family and never dared to ask much about their history. In her college graduation year, she picked up a camera to confront her parents, hoping to fill the gaps in her past.
Director Bio
Chen Qiaozhen graduated from the School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong, and is now an independent filmmaker and photographer based in Hong Kong. Her documentary "32+4" was nominated for Best Documentary at the 2015 Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan and won the Principal Prize at the 2014 Oberhausen International Short Film Festival in Germany. Her other works include short films like "Heatroom" and "Call me Mrs Chan.”
Interview
C: CiLENS (Su Yuanxi) D: Chen Qiaozhen
C: Thank you for accepting the interview with CiLENS. Could you introduce yourself to the audience?
D: I currently reside in Hong Kong. I came to Hong Kong from mainland China when I was in elementary school and have lived here ever since. The film being shown by CiLENS is actually my first movie, a documentary about my family. I believe that documentaries and visual forms allow me the freedom to narrate and express, especially on topics we often hesitate to discuss or don't know how to articulate. Since this documentary, I have continued with independent creation.
C: Can you share the circumstances under which you filmed this documentary?
D: When I was studying at the City University of Hong Kong, I was focusing on narrative films. While creating my graduation project, I originally wrote a script about my family story, but I found it challenging to realize. A narrative film requires actors, cameras, lighting, and many departments and personnel to collaborate, and I eventually felt I couldn't manage that, so I decided to tell it through a documentary format. Why did I want to film my family? Because I wanted to use the camera to explore my family history. However, halfway through, I gave up because I felt the camera, to some extent, created an obstacle in my exploration process. In front of the camera, many things were concealed, but I gained a lot of emotions instead. Ultimately, the film presents more of my emotions and states, as well as those of my parents.
C: How long did the entire shooting process last?
D: The shooting process wasn't long; it lasted for a few months. After a few months, I felt I couldn't continue filming. I actually started by filming myself; the first person I shot was myself, discussing my state at that time. The second was my father, who was easier to emotionally engage with, perhaps because he is older and wanted me to keep him company. However, when I filmed my mother, she was completely in a state of avoidance and rejection, which had a significant impact on me, and I paused filming for a while. When I eventually filmed my uncle, it led to some conflicts and arguments within the family, so I stopped filming.
C: Yes, I noticed that your mother appears quite resistant in the film, and you can sense her vulnerability. This raises a question: typically, when filming documentaries, the person holding the camera can maintain a distance from the subject through the lens. However, in your film, there's a paradox because you are filming your own family and some painful past experiences. What role do you think the camera plays in your film?
D: I've always been in a relatively repressive state within my family and never wanted to touch upon our family history. During university, I tried to use the camera to capture and express certain things; it seemed to give me some energy and helped me store certain emotions. Without the camera, I wouldn't dare to have those direct conversations with my mother, and my relationship with my father has also been quite distant. However, the presence of the camera allowed me to step outside of the daughter role and attempt to understand him, which made me want to get closer to my father.
Actually, my mother does not inherently resist me; her emotions stem from her rejection of the camera. I think my aggression contains many underlying emotions, stemming from childhood resentment, feelings my mother never recognized. I project all these onto my camera, which can be seen as a form of resistance. During filming, many questions were hidden in the camera, but at that time, I wasn't aware of this issue. Later on, I ended up confronting and re-evaluating who I am through the camera and why I treated my mother that way. The camera has unearthed many of my internal and hidden aspects.
C: I had considered making a documentary about my family, but I find it challenging because facing family and some past painful experiences can evoke a sense of
powerlessness. At the same time, I feel that the camera provides you with a kind of power to confront these past experiences.
D: The camera can sometimes be quite brutal. As a daughter, when dealing with relationships with my mother and family, I tend to suppress things and not escalate conflicts. However, if the camera is present, it violently records everything, and this violence comes from within because we are the ones holding the camera.
C: Right, because the person holding the camera possesses a certain power, having control over this gaze relationship. You choose what to film and how to present it, even if you might have been in a victim role in the past.
D: Exactly, there is a strong desire to dig into these matters, even if they are uncomfortable and anxiety-inducing; there remains a desire to explore.
C: I noticed there are six chapters in the film. Were these divisions conceptualized before shooting or formed during post-editing?
D: They were basically formed during editing; it was a very intuitive process. Initially, I wanted to tell a story, one that contained a question I wanted to explore. However, later on, that completely fell apart because I couldn't capture the footage I wanted. Some of the footage I haven’t even watched yet because I’m afraid to look at it. It's been left for too long and won't become part of the edited material.
There are still many things I don't dare to confront, so in the footage we see, I can only convey what state I was in, how I view my parents, and how my uncle was doing. There's not much narrative, just depicting these people and whether we can understand them. In the later stages of editing, I realized that the so-called truth wasn't that important, so I gave up on pursuing truth; I was merely exploring whether I could get closer to and understand my family.
C: I initially wanted to ask whether your film was a pursuit of truth or a presentation of a so- called truth, but it seems you've already answered that question.
D: Initially, there was a strong desire to know the truth—why I couldn't understand your past, why you ignored my childhood, why you didn't care if I was doing well. These questions were hidden in my motivation for making this film, but I didn't directly ask my parents.
C: One aspect I particularly like in your film is that you employed silent subtitles instead of a narration, which is more common in documentaries. I'd like to know your intention behind this choice. Did you want to maintain a distance from the images or past experiences, or did you have other motives?
D: A lot of the text in the film comes from my earlier writings. Initially, I considered using narration, but once I started voiceover, my intuition told me it felt wrong. I looked at the text I had written and found I couldn't voice it, so I directly submitted it to the school like that. I worried others might say it was an incomplete work, but that sense of distance felt comfortable to me—first, it created distance between me and my film, and second, it maintained a distance between the audience and me. The audience doesn't enter a close relationship to hear my narration; this method retains a kind of ambiguous distance. Another reason is that I felt the film was already quite oppressive, so I thought this approach could narrate my inner world from another perspective, adding a layer to the narrative.
C: I think for a creator, displaying your pain so vulnerably to others is a very difficult and contradictory thing...
D: After the film was completed, I let my father watch it, but I never showed it to my mother because she didn't want to see it. This deeply touched me: personal imagery is a form of creation, but once shared, it can have many impacts. How will the dissemination of an image affect those involved? In this film, because they are my family, I can handle these images without reservation due to our close relationship. But then I started to think about what impact the portrayal of my mother might have on her once it's shared. This is one of the things I've learned from this film.
C: I think I can understand your mother quite well because she might not be prepared to confront that part of herself or that experience. Her resistance is something I can empathize with. After making this film, has your relationship with your parents changed in any way?
D: Before filming this movie, our interactions were quite distant. Many topics were left untouched; there was a barrier between us. During the filming process, I had many conflicts with my mother. I had some resistance towards her, but after making the film, I realized that many things and truths are not really important; what matters are the underlying emotions and states. You can see her vulnerability, and I was touched by those genuine emotions. Gradually, our relationship has eased significantly. One day she apologized to me, acknowledging that she understood I made this film not to hurt her but to express that experience. She also said that even though she hasn’t seen the film, sometimes sharing those experiences can be a form of happiness because she has always found it hard to express and articulate certain things. She recognizes my need to share these experiences.
C: I saw on your personal website that you have other works discussing the concept of "home," such as those involving homeless people. I want to ask, what does the concept of "home" mean to you?
D: The concept is likely always changing, depending on my family dynamics, the social conditions in Hong Kong, and the state of dispersal among Hong Kong people. I have been pondering this issue. In "32+4," I used a family framework to understand my family, while also contemplating how different perspectives could alter my understanding of them. Typically, when we talk about how to construct a home, we mention ties like blood relations. However, I think many issues can come from the home, but for the younger generation, we are in a state of loss. When my parents migrated to Hong Kong, they brought their dreams and aspirations but lost their past. My own experience of migration is somewhat similar, with my family constantly dispersing. The concept of home holds great significance in today's social context, as it is a reflection of who we are and how we connect with others.
C: Yes, I can relate to that. When we face different living environments, we can find home in our relationships or communities. As someone creating films, do you see a responsibility to represent a certain perspective or community?
D: This responsibility is very heavy, and I often feel pressured by it. Many times, I must consider whether what I want to express is what those communities truly want to convey. Sometimes, my desires and those of others may not align, and this creates an ethical dilemma. But at the same time, I believe I must convey the underlying feelings and voices. I also find it a bit amusing; I can't avoid this responsibility, but I still insist on doing so.
C: As you are also a photographer, I noticed that you choose to present many social issues through photography. I’d like to understand how you choose your medium for self- expression, whether it's shooting documentaries or using photographs.
D: I think it really depends on intuition. Sometimes, you might suddenly want to take photos, and other times you might feel like shooting a documentary. I can't explain the source of this intuition. In fact, much of my work is very impulsive and driven by instinct. I take action in the moment and then gradually think about what kind of work I want to create.
C: Can you tell us about your recent new work?
D: I’m currently working on several projects at the same time. One long-term project involves photographing mobile residents in an old building in Hong Kong, where the rooms are enclosed with wooden boards, with each household occupying a single room. The space is very small, and they share a kitchen and bathroom. Residents come and go; some have lived there for over twenty years, while others stay for just a week. I’m very curious about the lifestyles of different groups.
C: Thank you very much for sharing your experiences and insights with us. I look forward to seeing your new work soon!
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Cliens (Berlin Indie Chinese Cinema Week):
CiLENS e.V. is a Berlin-based, non-profit film curation collective that explores the potential of cinema as a space for transcultural dialogues, through the showcase of independent Chinese films.
CiLENS focuses on socio-political issues related to women/gender, migration, and urbanization as depicted in the works of Chinese filmmakers. By introducing lesser-known yet vibrant contemporary Chinese cinema to international audiences, we aim to unveil the complex realities of contemporary China and the broader Sinophone world from insider perspectives, challenging Eurocentric viewpoints.
url: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/8mbbYGKB0rvYXBZb_jSr7w