Premiere of "Before the Wave": Breaking down stereotypes about the elderly
"'Qianlang' is a documentary full of 'danger' and 'fragility'." Wearing a white T-shirt with the word "Qianlang" printed on it, director Fan Shiguang stood on the aisle at the entrance of the theater and recalled this incident with reporters. The experience of following the elderly group for two years, "Because the subjects of the film are the elderly, most of them are in a period of life that is lost, sensitive, sick and unstable. For nearly two years, every protagonist in the film was filmed Experienced unexpected changes in the process.”
On the afternoon of June 7, the documentary "Front Waves" directed by Fan Shiguang held its premiere in Shanghai. On the big screen of UME International Cinema, Shanghai audiences saw the first two episodes of the documentary "The God of Eternal Love" for the first time. and "The Lover."
Fan Shiguang is a "post-85s generation" and he laughs at himself as the oldest member of the team. The youngest episode director in the entire team is a post-2000 generation, while the oldest protagonist in "The Wave" is 96 years old - this documentary is a work of young people filming old people.
"In 1963, China ushered in a baby boom, with nearly 30 million people born that year. By 2023, this group of people will retire one after another, which means that we will accelerate the transition to an aging society." Fan Shiguang said, this This documentary originated from the director's team's concern for the elderly in Shanghai. In the context of aging, the director wanted to use a documentary to reflect the transformation of society, but more importantly, to break the stereotypes and stereotypes about the elderly.
"Front Waves" has a total of 7 episodes, each episode is 50 minutes. A film crew of 30 people began research and filming in November 2022. It took a year to capture the stories of nearly twenty contemporary elderly people. Among them, "The God of Ageless Love" shot the elderly on a blind date at IKEA in Shanghai for a total of one year, recording the elderly group's pursuit of romantic love. "The Lover" tells the story of how an old man lost his loved one to Alzheimer's disease. "Tomorrow Will Be Better" continues to follow a 96-year-old man's journey to take the driving test. In order to travel by car with his wife, he chose a controversial method. "Guardian" follows the story of an old man's tireless search for his guardian. "Mother's Writing Project" warmly records a mother and her son's reconstruction of intergenerational communication through writing. "Bathing" tells the story of five old people taking a bath. It tells the pain of life and proves the dignity of life. "Sail with the Current" is a story about an old man's addiction to online shopping. It presents the relationship between an old man, his mobile phone and surveillance, mixed with pathos and humor, and is also a typical life picture of contemporary elderly people.
Fan Shiguang described this documentary as more focused on filming "people" rather than "events". "During the filming process, I was constantly revising my perceptions and breaking the stereotypes about the elderly." He said, for example, when filming the topic of elderly people dating at IKEA, "It seems that we were also wearing colored clothes at the beginning. If you look at this matter through glasses, you will think that they just want to find a partner because they are lonely. Later, you will find that this is not the case, including the breakup of the elderly, and you will eventually understand them. Said that the filming of "Before the Wave" is very different from documentaries such as "Human World", "Many things happen by chance. All we do is stay, squat, watch, think, and record things as they are. There is no one There is no typical old person, just like there is no typical middle-aged person.”
This filming journey was full of surprises and uncertainties. "Because of accidents, some people left after taking photos; because of illness, some planned travel photos had to be abandoned; because of misunderstandings, some elderly people wanted to sign a 'breakup agreement' with us and not have any contact with us. But there are also things that are expected. There is light outside, the 75-year-old man meets the one he likes, and his face is full of the beauty of a girl; there are also miracles that fail to happen, the 96-year-old man wants to take the driver's license test, but ultimately fails. This is an ending without an ending. "
Fan Shiguang once wrote a sentence in a memo: "Words that emptyly praise aging are absurd, and people who persistently fight against aging are cowardly." When filming "The Waves Before", he and the film crew neither wanted to overly praise aging, nor did they want to Let the word "old age" become tragic. Therefore, this documentary is not satisfied with a single discussion of intergenerational relationships; it not only reflects the loneliness of the elderly, but also strives to tap into the light in their lives; it not only presents the mess that aging brings to Chinese families, but also strives to discover The truth, goodness and beauty in life. The documentary therefore also focuses on social issues such as "the pros and cons of living in a nursing home," "dating the elderly," "intergenerational communication," and "Alzheimer's disease."
The audience's mood when watching "The Wave" may also be a mixture of sadness and joy. The elderly's view of love, which oscillates between romance and reality, sometimes makes people laugh uncontrollably; and the elderly's calmness about aging sometimes makes young people feel that this is a subject that needs to be constantly thought about and faced.
"Front Waves" is filmed and produced by SMG Documentary Center, and is jointly produced by Real Media, Tencent Video, BesTV, and Urban Music. It will be launched on Dragon TV, Tencent Video, BesTV and other platforms every Tuesday at 10:00 pm starting from June 11, 6 It will be launched on the urban channel at 9:00 pm every Friday starting from the 14th.
