Family Life One Moment at a Time: Liu Jiayin on Oxhide

A two hour feature comprising just 23 shots, filmed entirely in one apartment starring the filmmaker’s family. On paper it sounds like a teeth-grinding film student project. In reality its one of the most acclaimed and innovative slices of recent Chinese cinema – Liu Jiayin’s Oxhide. Beijing audiences now have the chance to see Liu’s film, and its sequel Oxhide II, on the big screen over the next few days at 798’s UCCA.

The diminutive Liu was just 23 when she completed Oxhide in 2004 as a postgraduate at the Beijing Film Academy. Earlier she had made a 17 minute short drama entitled Huoche (The Train), shot in a similarly restrained style. But Oxhide saw her deliberately blurring the lines between drama and documentary.

“Oxide was based on my family’s real experiences – we reenacted real-life events,” recalls Liu. “The film was born from a desire to preserve those memories.”

When asked if it was difficult persuading her parents to put their lives on public display, Liu laughs. “In other families this may have been a problem, but my parents are very avant-garde in their thinking and were very supportive. My parents and I know each other very well.”

Oxhide screened at numerous festivals around the globe, and garnered several awards including the Caligari at the 2005 Berlin Film Festival and the Golden DVD prize at the Hong Kong Film Festival the same year. Despite this success, Liu’s sequel, also based on her family life, took five years to complete. Oxhide II takes Liu’s minimalist approach one step further, reducing the drama to nine shots across 130 minutes, unfurling the story in real time.

Liu cites filmmakers like Iran’s Abbas Kiarostami, Taiwan’s Tsai Ming-liang and Japan’s Yasujiro Ozu as influences, though she believes photography has more directly affected her work. “I like to observe one moment or object for a long time… Perhaps this is why photography has influenced my style. Photos tell a whole story in just one moment. As a filmmaker, films don’t necessarily directly inspire my work – I draw on life and other forms.”

Although she expresses a desire to develop her photography skills, Liu emphatically states her future lies in filmmaking: “I’m now working on developing Oxhide III, though I hope it won’t take as long to make as the last one,” she says with a smile.

Oxide: 7pm, Wednesday, February 24 & Saturday, February 27.
Oxide II: 7pm, Thursday, February 25 & 4pm, February 28.
Director Liu Jiayin will be on hand for a Q&A after the screening on February 28.
Viewers can ask for free entry at the UCCA ticket desk.
UCCA.

Thanks to Cecily Huang for her help in translating the interview with Liu Jiayin.