Secret Lives: Zhu Yingwen captures the dreams of Shanghai on film

Zhu Yingwen has made three locally acclaimed documentaries: “Happy Together” (2007) and “No. 10 Qinguan Road” (2004) follow the intimate relationships of Shanghai’s longtang (alleyway) life while “Shanghai 8 Mile” (2008) follows young hip-hop rappers trying to make it.

“Shanghai 8 Mile” trailer is shown above.

Shanghai’s high-speed development has created a multitude of human stories, many ignored by the mainstream media. Independent filmmaker Zhu Yingwen set out to chronicle the stories of the overlooked. As a Chinese indie filmmaker, Zhu and his craft are often marginalized from mainstream Chinese arts and constantly battle a lack of funding for their projects. Attempting to overcome these challenges, Zhu struggles to uncover the real Shanghai.

When I graduated from film school I had big plans to make 60 films in 10 years. I wanted to collect the stories around me resulting from Shanghai’s high-speed development, especially those regarding people who are usually overlooked. I wanted to record the change in people’s hearts.

Shanghai is becoming a place of dreams and risk again, like in the 1920s.

— Zhu Yingwen, Shanghai filmmaker

I was really interested in the dreams of young people -- I tried to make a feature film about this in 2005. But most of my plans fell through because there are almost no channels for funding. People think you can just get a camera and some people and start filming but the barriers to entry into feature films are very high. 

I felt I never quite got there, so I went with documentaries because the storylines are there in real life. I use them to accumulate experience and understanding of human nature. For “Shanghai 8 Mile,” -- a play off the movie "8 Mile" -- I followed a group of young musicians over six months. I got to know them, lived with them, and entered their lives. 

So many people don’t go for their dreams, but these young people went for it. The dreams may have been short-lived but I recorded the moment they tried to make it happen. Shanghai is becoming a place of dreams and risk again, like in the 1920s.

Fashionable lifestyles

To make a living I run a production company filming the fashionable lives of Shanghai’s middle classes to sell to TV stations. It’s not so bad -- I get the chance to document the new Chinese lifestyle. But the middle classes don’t seem to know how to enjoy life. They buy expensive brands but don’t have a deeper sense of what luxury means. 

Filming on location at Shanggang No. 3 factory which was relocated for the 2010 Expo.

Shanghai is a terrible place for indie filmmakers because it’s so commercial. Very few do it for passion, very few have substance. Once something becomes commercial it becomes very organised with budgets and deadlines.

Films that move me

Mainstream Chinese films are very immature. They don’t want to self reflect or learn from the outside world. The industry lacks imagination. South Korean films for example reflect human emotions more truthfully. I like films that move me.

I’m interested in conflict and life decisions. My latest project follows the workers of a factory near Nanpu Bridge that was relocated because of the Expo. The workers have to decide whether to follow the factory far away, and lose the life they’ve always known. 

There are few channels to show my films when completed. But people hear about them, and come to find me. I hope they help to archive Shanghai’s transformation. 

If I had all the money in the world I would make a Shanghai version of “Sex and the City.” It’s a good medium to explore Shanghainese life and all the different cultures here.

Told by Nancy Zhang