So-Called Friends Interview: Tai Tai-lung and Lien Chin-hua

Q. I understand that both of you hail from Taiwan and that you both studied at the Beijing Film Academy. When did you go to Beijing to study and why? A. (TAI) I was in the Cinematography Department from 1991 to 1993. I have always liked cinema and wanted to be a film director, but because I was not impressed with film studies in Taiwan, I decided to study in Beijing. It is not that difficult to go study in Beijing from Taiwan. But because the tuition fees for foreigners have gone up recently, there are not that many students from Taiwan right now. A. (LIEN) I did not really aim to become a film director. Before entering the film academy, I used to shoot with the kind of video camera tourists use for travel. I took the one-year directing course. Now I think directing is interesting. Q. Did you have the idea of having the heroine act in a mermaid show in the nightclub from the very start? Q. How did you manage funding, staff and the other details of the production of So-Called Friends? A. (TAI) I got funding from a production subsidy offered by the Taiwanese government as well as from the Central Motion Picture Corporation, and the budget came up to 1200 Taiwanese dollars (about 45 million yen). The staff and cast members were mainly local Chinese from China, and many of them were my classmates, so I did not have any difficulties. Huang Lei, one of the main actors, was also my classmate. The only difficulty I had to face was having to run the film by the Chinese censors. The filming was done from February to March this year. I think that by filming in the cold weather, I was able to portray the peculiar relationship that Taiwan and China have as neighbors that do not seem to understand each other. In fact, many Taiwanese still have no idea what a cosmopolitan city Beijing has become. Director's Profile Tai Tai-lung: Born in Taipei, Taiwan in 1967. Graduated from the New World College of Journalism in the department of Television Broadcasting. Went on to complete a Master's Degree in Cinematography at the Beijing Film Academy. Wingless Angel (1994) won the prestigious GIO Golden Harvest Award for Outstanding Short Film. Was also the assistant director for the movie Formosa Sisters. Director's Profile Lien Chin-hua: Born in Taichung, Taiwan in 1962. Completed coursework at the Beijing Film Academy in Directing. Part of the production team for the highly acclaimed film Super Citizen Ko and on -location screenwriter and director of Taiwan Television's "Eight Thousand Miles of Clouds and Moon". So-Called Friend is his original screenplay and was honored with the prestigious 1998 GIO Outstanding Screenplay Award.