Interview: Yung Chang

On November 18^th, director Yung Chang’s documentary Up the Yangtze comes out on DVD (it’s out now in Canada) after a successful theatrical and festival run. It was an official selection to the Sundance Film Festival, won Best Feature Documentary at the San Francisco Intl. Film Fest, and won Best Documentary Film at the Vancouver International Film Festival. Killer Film sits down with Yung Chang to talk about the film and other things.

Jon: Thanks for taking time to sit down with Killer Film, as I loved the documentary. Can you explain what made you take the leap to being a graduating student from Concordia University to documentaries? Is there something you like about telling stories in the documentary form than narrative form?

Yung Chang: Hi Jon - Thanks for having me. I’m inspired by real events with real people. I think there is very little differentiation for me between doc and narrative. Both rely on strong characters and storyline. Both can be considered as an interpretation of reality. But I think the transition for me into the documentary medium came mostly out of practicality as well. In Canada, there is strong support for the documentary film with cultural institutions like the National Film Board of Canada. Up the Yangtze has received quite a bit of feedback as a sort of film that feels very much like a narrative but is documentary. Even the great Andrew Sarris in the New York Observer commented that, “Yung Chang’s Up the Yangtze crosses the very thin line between fiction and nonfiction films with the use of real-life people in the massively ongoing spectacle of the largest hydroelectric project in history, the Three Gorges Dam, which is causing the displacement of three million inhabitants from the banks of the fabled Yangtze River.”

I think we’ve reached the point, in cinema, where we can have this sort of dialogue about filmmaking. From Italian neo-realism to Iranian cinema, to documentaries by Jia Zhangke (Useless), the expected notions of documentary are being pushed to the limits and I encourage this exploration. Although, for the record, nothing in my film was scripted or re-enacted.

Jon: I read an article from IMDB in which there was a statement about how many high profiled documentaries (Taxi to the Dark Side, Chicago 10) weren’t making much money at the box office. Has that affected your film in anyway, such as getting distribution or release schedule?

YC: So far, we’ve been very lucky with our theatrical release and box office. Over USD1.5 million worldwide and still going! It was very unexpected that the film would be received so well. It’s hard to pinpoint what makes a successful box office. I think it’s a combination of luck, timing and relevance. A strong festival release and positive reviews also helps. We released the film in North America in the winter/spring of 2008, just before the Beijing Olympics, which I think had an influence on its success. The other thing that we didn’t realize was that we were tapping into a niche market where hundreds of thousands of people have traveled to the Yangtze River and taken a cruise ship, like the one in my film. They actually came out in droves to see the film.

Jon: There’s a handful of fascinating people the film could have easily followed. When did the film start taking shape and when did you find that Cindy Yu Shui and Jerry Bo Yu were the subjects the film was going to follow?

YC: The film started taking shape during production. I had a handful of different subjects that I was following in 2006. I moved and lived in Chongqing, worked with a Chinese film crew, and devised a production schedule that would allow me to follow numerous subjects. Some of which didn’t make it into the final film. About half-way through production, I realized that Yu Shui and her family were the central characters. Chen Bo Yu’s presence largely came out during the editing process. In the DVD, you’ll find additional deleted footage of other subjects that I followed, including Campbell He and a village of protestors. I wish I could have included all the footage and characters but that would have been a 6 hour version!

Jon: Olivier Alary composed a fantastic score. It sticks out in a good way as I think it helped establish the mood for the film’s subjects. Was there any conscious effort on your part to be involved with the score or did Alary have free reign?

YC: Yes, I worked very closely with Olivier. Just before I moved to China, Olivier (who is based in Montreal and has worked with Cat Power and Bjork) put together a mixed CD for me. http://www.ensemble-home.com/ It had music by Can, Arvo Part, and Simon Diaz…an eclectic mix. It helped me to figure out the rhythm and pace of the film even during production. It also helped to limit the guide music during post and helped Olivier to define his own score. In fact, Olivier came on very early on during the editing phase. He used an Ethiopian scale which is the same scale as traditional Japanese music. In the end, the melody is perfect and it resonates in every composition throughout the film right up to the last scene of the film. Every week, he would send me some sort of rough guide track to work with. I think music is very important for editing as well. Music can add subtext to a scene and should be used sparingly. In my film, I think it really helped to underscore and emphasize emotional moments.

Jon: Your grandfather, Wayne Wu Yun Quan, contributed some music to the film, which people can visit the film’s official webpage to download some of it. Can you explain that process on how you got your grandfather involved and using it with Alary’s score?

YC: I owed to my grandfather since he brought me to China for the first time in 1997. Then again, during the cruise in 2002, my first time to the Yangtze [River]. It’s a very powerful song and I thought it was important to include it because it captures that romantic nostalgia that many overseas Chinese feel about their homeland. My grandfather saw the film - he loved it, but he wishes I could have included the entire song instead of one refrain! Definitely do download his album - it’s free from my website.

Jon: The official website also has a link for support of Cindy Yu Shui and her family. When we first met after a screening in Omaha, NE you gave some information about it. Can you explain that again for people who might be catching up with the film for the first time and how are Cindy Yu Shui and Chen (Jerry) Bo Yu doing now?

YC: Well, after sharing the film around the world at festivals and screenings, audiences really wanted to contribute to help out the family in the film. It was amazing. During the film, I didn’t pay the subjects because they’re not actors. I helped them out in other ways, like buying supplies and stuff. Now that the film has travelled around and played to responsive audiences, I started a fund for the family. It’s a great way to be able to give back to the family for sharing their personal experience and teaching us about the Chinese experience. Since I’ve begun the fund, we’ve raised over $25,000.00. I’m hoping to set-up a long-term fund for the family to help pay for healthcare and school tuition. Yu Shui and family saw the movie. Yu Shui decided to leave the cruise boat and go back to high school we’ve since helped to pay for her remaining high school fees. The father only makes about $200USD / year so the fund will go a long way in helping them out.

They’re still going through hard times. Mr. Yu is working part-time as a coolie. They have no farmland so have to pay for food. You can learn more about where they are by checking out this. Chen Bo Yu saw the movie, and he wished there could have been more of him in the film. He’s currently working on another cruise ship, which I only found out through an audience member at Sundance. Apparently, she tipped him very well.

Jon: Let’s talk about the DVD. It must be an incredible experience to see your film go from an idea to a Sundance Official Selection. What about your feelings now, as it hits DVD?

YC: It’s an amazing experience to know that your film has moved people immensely. I’m very happy about the DVD. There are some great extras (deleted footage, research footage, home video) and I think it will complement nicely for those who wish to learn and see more about the film. Something that we’ve done, that I’m very proud of, is to also create Chinese subtitles. (We saved the pirates the subtitling duty.)

Jon: Was there any thought about DVD extras and what are your feelings about supplemental material, especially for a documentary?

YC: I didn’t want to add a director’s commentary. I felt that was sort of in bad taste. But I did want to include as much footage as possible that I wasn’t able to incorporate into the final edit. I think the deleted footage with Campbell’s story, and Jerry Chen Bo Yu in his home village will be quite illuminating. I also like the additional time-lapse sequences and an excursion I had visiting the White Crane Rock, a historic landmark preserved underwater.

Jon: You shot the film on DV and I noticed advertisements for the DVD talk about a new transfer. Was something needed to be done getting it to look good on DVD?

YC: In fact, the film was shot on HD not DV. A totally tapeless process using the first-generation Panasonic HVX200, which was an ordeal in itself. But the footage is beautiful, the cinematography quite expansive and moving, so Zeitgeist, our distributor, did an awesome job in formatting the DVD to get the highest quality possible. It looks breathless on your home cinema.

Jon: Well, I’ve enjoyed the film immensely and can’t thank you enough for taking time to talk about the film and its DVD. I hope to hear more from you. Thanks again.

YC: Thanks Jon. I appreciate the time to talk about Up the Yangtze with you.

You can reread my theatrical review of the film here and I’ll be re-reviewing the film on DVD soon.