follows the well-known British host Tim Hague as he visits many places in Zhejiang and learns about the story behind "common prosperity" through vivid stories.
The documentary "Together in the Mountains and Seas" has launched its world premiere. After the premiere of
, Nandu reporters interviewed Zhang Wei, the chief director of the documentary "Together in the Mountains and Seas", to reveal the behind-the-scenes filming of the documentary.
Zhang Wei accepted an exclusive interview with a reporter from Nandu.
Nandu: Where did the inspiration for the documentary come from?
Zhang Wei: I think the inspiration mainly comes from several aspects. First of all, Qingshan Village on the edge of Hangzhou is actually very famous. We often go to Hangzhou, Zhejiang for meetings, so we often hear friends around us talk about the development and changes of Qingshan Village. Therefore, we felt that this was a good subject, and then conducted an in-depth research. After research, I found that the subject matter is very rich. Moreover, a large number of charity things that the Alibaba Charity Foundation has been doing have been implemented here.
In addition, the concept of "common prosperity" has been proposed for some time, but for some viewers, there is actually no opportunity to deeply understand the meaning behind it. After
conducted a lot of research, we felt that we needed to use an international perspective to tell a documentary about the relationship between real people and "shared wealth", so we came up with our topic today.
Nandu: The documentary was shot around the Spring Festival, and the locations were chosen in several villages in Zhejiang. Why did you choose this time and these locations?
Zhang Wei: Zhejiang itself is a demonstration area of common prosperity and has accumulated some experience and materials in many aspects. In terms of setting up the shooting route, we basically went around Hangzhou. From Jingning Kaihua in the east to mountainous areas, to Hangzhou to the plains, to Zhoushan to the islands, this journey covered several major domestic tourist destinations. The geographical situation is similar to a smaller version of China. In fact, that’s why we decided to shoot in Zhejiang at that time.
In terms of shooting time, on the one hand we have to coordinate the time of the guest host Tim, on the other hand, at the turn of winter and spring, when everything recovers, there will indeed be many stories happening. Especially during the Spring Festival, there are many stories, and as a foreign guest, Tim spends the Spring Festival in China. We believe that by understanding customs, tasting delicious food, and gathering together, Tim can better understand Chinese traditional culture and feel more about it. to the customs and customs of China.
Nandu: The name of "Going Together to the Mountains and Seas" is also very interesting. Are "Going Together" and "Going Together" homophonic?
Zhang Wei: The process of naming was actually a process of our thinking. In fact, the original name was "The Road to Common Prosperity", which is very straightforward. But as a documentary, it can be more subtle and doesn't need to be so explicit. At the same time, we also hope to express the connotation of this program. So in the end, we chose the name "Going to the Mountains and Seas Together".
actually has two meanings. The first meaning is actually a literal meaning, which is that our entire film crew and guest host Tim are traveling together from mountains and rivers to urban and rural areas and then to islands. The second meaning is that we hope that everyone will prosper together in the world. Under the concept, let’s start a two-way journey to the mountains and seas.
Nandu: Why choose Tim as the guest host?
Zhang Wei: The guest hosts we are looking for need to have several characteristics. First, they must have a global and international vision. Tim has been a host for international media and has interviewed many political figures around the world; You need to pay attention to China and have a certain degree of freshness. You don’t have to live in China for many years, but you at least have a sense of curiosity about this hot land. So through those two points, we ended up choosing Tim. After shooting together, we found that the effect was quite good. Tim is very curious and respects every subject. At the same time, he is able to carry out deep conversations with them with his thoughts and ideas, so he is able to capture many vivid things. You can see it in the film, it's very vivid.
Nandu: The final documentary is also presented from Tim’s perspective. Were there any differences due to different cultural backgrounds during the filming?
Zhang Wei: This is actually co-creation. During the filming, we will discover his perspective, or many of his questions, which we also want to ask, so it is quite pleasant for us to cooperate and collide with him in this process. On the other hand, in fact, we have not strengthened the strength or perspective of any one party. In our film, we also have the perspective of government staff, corporate rural correspondents, and purely individual charity volunteers. We prefer to film In all aspects of society, this is also the concept we set at the beginning. In addition, we set a tone from the beginning of the entire filming of this film, that is, we still tell stories about ordinary people. Therefore, after the strategies are agreed upon, it becomes more of a discussion and everyone collides together.
Nandu: We found that some of the relatively disadvantaged people in the film were not completely passive recipients of help. They would also help others. Is this also an intentional choice by the main creative team?
Zhang Wei: We may prefer to see that every group of people has its own strength. I think when we are making this film, first of all, we should not stereotype people, and we should not use conventional thinking to tell what kind of people they will be like; secondly, we should not stereotype them. For example, we may think that Xiaozhen must be very sad because she is suffering from illness, but in fact, when we contact her, we find that she is actually a very optimistic person. We still really shoot the most real state, their most real heart, this is very important.
Nandu: After this shooting, do you have any new understanding of the concept of "common prosperity"?
Zhang Wei: When we first started preparing this documentary, we also felt that "common prosperity" was relatively conceptual and a grand theme. But after we conducted research, we found that there are actually many small stories under this theme. The concept of "common prosperity" itself brings together the power of many people. When the stories of so many people come together, this The concept is established. Just like a building, each of us is actually a molecule of this building. That is to say, if all these molecules are separated, then it may become a frame, or even a castle in the air. Therefore, my experience is that the concept of "common prosperity" is actually a living story. This is the change in my understanding from before to after filming this documentary. This is exactly what we want to convey to the audience.
Nandu: This documentary will be broadcast globally. Are you worried about encountering some cultural "acclimatization"?
Zhang Wei: I don’t have such worries. We feel that we should be able to be tolerated and accepted by overseas audiences. Although there are different cultures and customs at home and abroad, the cultural core itself is still the same. For example, the ability to empathize with emotions and the natural empathy for ordinary people when they encounter diseases are actually based on human instincts and original intentions of truth, goodness and beauty. Therefore, we do not feel that there will be too many difficulties and obstacles in dissemination and understanding.For example, there is a scene in the film where Tim kisses a child's hand. Indeed, after our program is completed in the later stage, everyone will still have some controversy. But in the end, we still retained this shot. The reason for retaining it was that we felt that this was the most realistic state, and at that moment, Tim actually expressed his true temperament. He actually longed to communicate with this child. , express love to relatively disadvantaged children in their own way. And I believe the audience can feel that there is a very positive message behind this shot.
Reporter: How do you hope foreign audiences will view this documentary? What kind of ideas do you hope this film can convey?
Zhang Wei: As a director, I particularly hope that the things expressed in the film can be conveyed to the audience. This documentary mainly hopes that through Tim's perspective, many foreign audiences who do not know China can understand the true face of China through this film, and understand the spiritual aspirations and daily life of ordinary Chinese people.
Nandu: Are you confident about the response to the broadcast?
Zhang Wei: We feel that the film will have good reputation and traffic. Everyone watched it live today. In fact, I also observed how everyone watched the movie. I think the reputation will be pretty good. In terms of traffic, we never believe that traffic is the only criterion for measuring the quality of a program. Secondly, we also think that the traffic of this film will not be bad.
Interview and writing: Nandu reporter Mo Qianru from Beijing
