Wuershan wurde 1972 in der Mongolei geboren, lebt und arbeitet zurzeit in Beijing, China. Neben zahlreichen Werbespots für Firmen wie Nestle ist er vor allem für seine Video Projekte und Photographien bekannt. 2004 war er anlässlich der Aufführung seines ersten Spielfilms Soap Opera (肥皂剧/Fei zao ju), der schon beim koreanischen Pusan Filmfestival den Kritikerpreis gewann, bei der Viennale in Wien, wo ich auch nach einem netten Abendessen die Gelegenheit hatte, ein kleines Interview mit ihm zu führen.

GP: First of all please tell us a little about how you grew up and what influenced your filmmaking.

Wuershan: I am really a fun seeking person and interested in many things, so I also have a lot of ideas from life, which I like to integrate into my projects. When I was child, I used to study drawing, but later I lost interest in that, so I changed my focus on other fields of art, like video performance. After a quarrel with my teacher, I left art school and later joined the Beijing film academy.

GP: You graduated from film school in 1998, but made you first feature film in 2003. Why did it take 5 years for you to realise your first film project?

Wuershan: I am not the kind of person, that just waits for a chance, I want to be active and create my own chances, so I have set up my own advertisement production company in Beijing, which runs quite well. I can invest only my own money in my own projects. I didn’t have any experience in filmmaking and filmmaking needs a lot of money, so we also needed enough time to save up.

GP: Soap Opera was your first movie, was it hard to realise all your ideas?

Wuershan: Soap Opera was only the beginning. I still have many ideas; I’m just waiting for a chance that could put them into use. It is also a challenge for me to practise how good I can make a movie of a long story.

GP: Why can’t Soap Opera be shown in China?

Wuershan: If a movie wants to be released in China, it has to be approved by the authorities. Even though it is not as bloody as a typical action film, it won’t be approved, because of its violent elements.

GP: All the stories in Soap Opera deal with death and violence…

Wuershan: For a commercial movie, violence is the most important element. Just like when you cook food, you have to add some spicy chilli for a better taste. Most of the ordinary people live a boring life, so they are only satisfied if they can eat spicy food. The use of violence in commercial movies always needs a reason. Like the hero killing the bad guy, or the bad guy killing others is just for the stake of killing because he’s the bad guy. Explaining violent behaviour with only these reasons are not enough, that’s why I want to show another approach towards violence. Of course providing simple reasons for violence is a safe way for the directors, because then the authorities will approve their movies. People are happy if they see this kind of sense in the movie.

GP: Are all the stories in Soap Opera based on real events?

Wuershan: Yes.

GP: Even though the different episodes are all quite dark, the story that connects them together is a little funny. Did you do that on purpose, to compensate for all the serious things, or did that just happen?

Wuershan: The story that connects all the episodes is shot in black and white, in contrast to the colourful stories, to identify the different parts. The three coloured parts are all shot in different colours. The story of the kidnapped child tends to be blue, the second story tends to be red and the third one tends to be yellow.

GP: Are the people who act in your movie professional actors?

Wuershan: No, most of them are my friends. Actually all the actors have had a similar career to the ones that their characters in the film play in real life. Professional actors couldn’t give the same intense performance, because they would lack the real life experience.

GP: How long did you take to shoot this movie?

Wuershan: The shooting took only 14 days, but since I could only shoot the film in my spare time, between making various commercials, it took nearly one year till the movie was finished.

GP: Soap Opera has been shown in small theatres in China, at the Pusan Film Festival in South Korea and at the Viennale in Vienna. How did the different audiences react to this film?

Wuershan: Since I am always very busy with shooting TV commercials, it was my first time seeing the film in the theatre with an audience in Vienna, so I can’t really answer that question. Actually the reason why I came here is, because I need some vacation.

GP: How is the general situation for independent filmmakers in China now?

Wuershan: Since I didn’t really do much research on independent films in china and I am not an expert I cannot give you a clear answer. I only create ideas based on my own experiences. Based on the quantity of independent films now, the independent scene seems to be quite strong.

GP: Do you already have plans for any new films in the near future?

Wuershan: Yes, I have many plans, but they all depend on the chances I get. One of my concepts is to make an industrial style movie. We will put all our efforts in making a movie, which should entertain the audience on one hand, but also discuss deep and meaningful topics on the other hand. If a movie only tries to entertain an audience, it’s like we only have Mcdonald’s for eating. We still need small restaurants, which maybe not make as much profit as the big ones, but offer a better level of cooking.

GP: So your future films will also go more into teh diretion of some art movies?

Wuershan: I want to divide my work in two ways in the future. One way will be making movies, which discuss sharper topics, like I did in Soap Opera, the other way I will be making more entertaining movies. It’s like my character, at the one side I like entertainment, at the other side I also want to concern myself with more serious and deep topics. If one wants to make a commercial film, it is very important to advertise, research and to have a clear idea of the current trend in the film market. So it is very different from making an art movie. An art movie features much more real and special feelings, than a commercial film. Making an art movie needs much more preparations, finding ideas and waiting for the right inspiration. You can’t force yourself to do it.

GP: So you would rather stay as an underground filmmaker?

Wuershan: Well making a commercial movie is also a good career, but art filmmaking is really enjoyable and has good lifestyle

GP: Besides filmmaking, you also do exhibitions, photography…

GP: So besides filmmaking, you also do exhibitions, photography…
Wuershan: These things are also my lifestyle. Without them, I might not be happy with my life. I have so many different feelings in life, which I want to express in different ways. If I can achieve that, I will be really happy. I am also working on producing a new music album, which will mix traditional Mongolian music with modern electronic music.

GP: Are you also planning to make some music yourself, or will you stick to producing albums?

Wuershan: I am not talented in composing music myself, but I would like to invest some money into the field of music and let people create music themselves.

GP: Anything you want to add?

Wuershan: Don’t take everything in life too seriously, but also don’t do nothing, because doing nothing is the most miserable thing to do. A person should do something, even if it’s not important.

GP: Alright. Thank you for the interview, I hope you enjoyed your stay in Austria.

Wuershan: Thank you.