Thiruvananthapuram: Hong Kong film director Ann Hui, who received the lifetime achievement award at IFFK 2024, stressed the need for young and aspiring directors to focus on work-life balance and give importance to health.
During an interactive session at the festival, Hui shared her insights, urging directors to recognize when they need a break. "If you're not feeling inspired, it's better to take a step back than to push yourself further," she said. Reflecting on her own experience, she said, "I neglected to maintain a balance between my work and life," and stressed that "health is the foundation of all possibilities."
"As a filmmaker, you need to have stamina more than anything else. If you can't work more than 15 hours a day when you are shooting, then you fail. So, you have to keep a balance between your inspiration and your practical considerations," she said.
Hui also noted that it is an exciting time for the industry. "Anyone can pick up a camera and make a film without going through the traditional production process—no need for producers or large financing. If you save up a little bit of money, you can make movies. But finding new ideas will be difficult."
Stating humbly that she "did not fare well" and "barely survived in the field," Hui said that she did not know she would become a director when she joined a film school in the 70s. "I did have some definite plans. I used to think I would become a film academic or a film librarian, or at most an editor. But somehow greatness was forced on me. When I went into TV, I just had to be a director, as that was the only role left for the people who got in. I just went along with the circumstances." Stating that she did not face discrimination as a woman, Hui said that the pay was low and men refused to work as directors in TV, so women took up the job. Responding to a question on her ideological stand in connection with the movie ‘Boat People', Hui said that she never claimed to be ideologically neutral. "I made the film because of the human story it told. It touched me, and I wanted to do a story about their predicament."
Commenting on censorship under the Chinese, Hui said, "I believe maybe now it is stricter than it was in our days under the British. But that does not mean there were no restrictions at that time. It's more or less the same, but the rules are different. You have to submit your stories and films, and then afterwards it has to be censored."