Director Yifan Du talks to About Insider

HI, WELCOME TO ABOUT INSIDER! THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO CHAT WITH US! CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOURSELF, WHO IS YIFAN DU IN YOUR OWN WORDS? 
Yifan Du is a Chinese female director who is good at shooting films from the perspective of editing. She is good at directing horror and suspense films.

HOW DID YOU GET INTERESTED IN FILM AND WHAT LED YOU TO STUDY AT THE ACADEMY OF ART UNIVERSITY?
I like movies because of my father’s influence. Since I began to remember, my father has used DV to record my life. When I was a child, my father would often rent some foreign movies to watch. The first foreign movie I saw was Titanic. I still remember my mother covering my eyes when the actors had intimate scenes.
As I watched more and more films, I was curious about how the films were made. For me, films were magical attractions. In addition, when I went to high school, I was responsible for planning all the school’s artistic activities, such as the opening and closing ceremonies of the school sports meeting, and the school’s reporting performance. I accumulated experience as a stage director, and my parents also wanted to send me abroad. After learning that I was very interested in film production, they agreed to send me abroad to study film director.

CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE WORKING AS AN EDITOR FOR SHORT VIDEOS WITH HOLLYWOOD ACTRESS MAGGIE Q?
Although I was not all at the scene when filming, I could feel Maggie Q was a very professional actor throughout the meeting during the post-editing, and she had very clear ideas about the packaging and toning of the post-video and some things she insisted on herself – to bring the purely natural and green life attitude to her fans and always stay the healthiest state.

HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE CONCEPT FOR YOUR SHORT FILM “A.I.” AND WHAT WAS THE PROCESS OF FILMING AND PRODUCING IT LIKE?
I was writing my AI script at the beginning of an outbreak in the United States. I stayed home for two months. When I was at home, I happened to watch a debate contest, the content of which was “When people transplant memory into AI after death, then this AI is the continuation of human life or another new individual”. At that time, I thought it was very interesting. There was a picture in my mind. The research on robots in the United States has been very advanced. In addition, there have been discussions and articles on the Internet about the possibility that some positions may be replaced by AI in the future. I was inspired to write this screenplay in two months.
The hardest part of filming was when we were at the height of the epidemic. Because of the epidemic prevention policy, the number of filmmakers was limited. Our team of 18 people was eventually reduced to 11 people, including actors and directors. So, it is equivalent to saying that some members of our crew need to do two things in a limited time. In addition to the actors, all the workers at the shooting site should wear them. They also need to maintain a certain social distance and eat separately. So, I would like to thank our AI crew members for supporting me to finish this short film at the most difficult time.

WHAT HAVE BEEN SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF YOUR CAREER SO FAR, INCLUDING ANY AWARDS OR RECOGNITION YOU HAVE RECEIVED?
So far, my best highlight has been the invitation to the Los Angeles Asian Film Awards and ETHOS Film Awards International Film Festival. As a new female ethnic minorities director, I am very honored to be invited by the festival organizers to help the jury with my personal experience in screening high-quality films.

WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT THE CREATIVE PROCESS OF FILMMAKING, PARTICULARLY AS A DIRECTOR, SCREENWRITER, AND EDITOR?
In filmmaking, my favorite two parts are communicating with the actors on how to walk and perform, and the other is post-production editing. If the scene is a film of the limbs and torso, the clip for me is these limbs and torso connected and injected into the soul

WHAT CHALLENGES HAVE YOU FACED AS A FILMMAKER AND HOW HAVE YOU OVERCOME THEM?
The hardest time for me was when I just graduated and decided to stay in America and look for a job. As an international student, I originally planned to return to China to develop my career after graduation. However, after comparing the film systems of China and the United States, I decided to work in the United States for a period to learn some practical experience before making my future. However, it is difficult for a newly graduated college student to get investment to make my own film. When I moved to Los Angeles to work after graduating from San Francisco, I paid the rent and deposit, and only had $150 on my body, so I started shooting and editing small-cost commercials.
At first, I only received some small company promotional films, and then I took some wedding shooting and editing work by chance. It was in these jobs that I gradually became a practitioner from an academic. This is how I accumulated funds for my own film production while gaining experience by taking some jobs related to video production. That’s how I got this AI.

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS AS A FILMMAKER AND WHAT PROJECTS DO YOU HOPE TO WORK ON IN THE FUTURE?
My goal has always been very clear. I want to export Chinese culture to the world through the medium of film. But now I have a new goal. I want to explore more ethnic minority actresses and female filmmakers (not only directors and producers but also make-up, editing, color mixing, etc.), because I have been to several studios before and found that the members are mostly men, most of them are men over the age of 40. The plight of women in Hollywood is still ahead of us. As a member of the jury for a Minority Women’s Film Festival, I uphold the purpose of women helping women. I hope that one day I will be able to achieve equality between men and women in my work, at least in terms of the proportion of women

DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR ASPIRING FILMMAKERS?
In my career, I have met some filmmakers who are also facing the financial difficulties of film funding. I have a director friend who sold his car to make a film. I think that dreams are important, but the premise of achieving dreams is to live first. Only when you live well, to experience and feel life, can you obtain continuous inspiration. Occasionally, you can change your mind, try to engage in other industries, and accumulate money while preparing for your dream. Opportunities are always for those who are prepared.

IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE AS A DIRECTOR, SCREENWRITER, AND EDITOR?
For me, whether I am a screenwriter, a director, or a film editor, the most important thing is communication. The screenwriter is responsible for communicating with the characters in the script, the director is responsible for communicating with the whole team, and the film editor is responsible for communicating with the audience. So please be sure to develop your communication skills.

WHERE CAN OUR READERS FIND YOU ONLINE?
Private website:fancydu11.wixsite.com/director
Film festival website : www.poweroffilm.xyz
Linke­­­din:@Yifan Du 
Facebook: @Yifan DU
Insta:@Fancyyyy_11