An interview with the Director of Red Guard, screening at the 2024 Mosaic World Film Festival.
Amidst the Cultural Revolution, a young man’s participation in a Red Guard march is interrupted when he unexpectedly finds an object from his past.
1. What drew you to create this film?
As someone of Chinese descent, I have felt that Chinese history between the 1900s and the present has often been underrepresented in U.S. and Western cinema. Chinese culture and Chinese people have had a huge impact on world history, yet the amount of Chinese history taught in the U.S. pales in comparison to European history. Specifically, while most people in the U.S. know about Hitler or Stalin, little is commonly known about Mao Zedong—a tyrant who wildly changed the course of China’s history and whose oppressive rulership has left repercussions that are still felt in Chinese culture today. My film “Red Guard” focuses on Mao’s Cultural Revolution and the corruption he planted in the young Chinese Red Guards, many of whom are still alive today. With this film, I hope to not only educate viewers about the horrors of the Cultural Revolution, but also to humanize the experience of the Red Guards whose lives are often stuck in images that barely make it into history textbooks.
2. What does filmmaking mean to you?
I have been making films for as long as I can remember, and find beauty in how filmmaking is an art form based fundamentally on empathy. I believe filmmaking’s power lies in its ability for the artist to express their perspective, feelings, or opinions through the medium of film, then send their art out on its way to be received by an audience who analyzes, reflects upon, and debates what they have just seen—sometimes transforming the piece of art beyond what the original artist intended simply through their discussion. I love how it celebrates the participation of everyone, artist and audience member alike, in opening themselves up to new people and ideas, allowing themselves to both affirm and challenge their beliefs while discovering a variety of ways of looking at the world.
3. What advice would you give students or beginners that want to make films?
Grab any camera and sound equipment and go make a movie! Believe in yourself, which although is often repeated to no end, can be increasingly difficult when trying to break into the world of film (I’m still working on this for myself too…). Surround yourself with those who you love to create with. Know the worth of you and your art.
4. What films do you watch again and again?
Lady Bird, 2001: A Space Odyssey, When Harry Met Sally, Arrival, Memento
Thank you L-J!
You can get tickets for the #2024mwff here: https://filmfreeway.com/MosaicWorldFilmFestival/tickets