Chinese Young Documentary Director Tries to Find Another Himself Around the World 寻找世界上的另一个我

This story is originally published on Asia Pacific Daily website on April 28, 2016.

本文首发于亚太日报英文版，2016年4月28日。

Tracing back the history, what did the most famous and influential people do at their age of 21?

Cuban Revolution leader Che Guevara was planning a motorcycle ride tour across South America; NBA star Kobe Bryant had already played three playoffs at age 21; Bill Gates dropped out from Harvard and found his first pot of gold at the same year, while great scientist Einstein lived a bleak life when he was 21 and even could not find a job.

What today’s global youth are doing at the same age?

Yang Fan, a Chinese young documentary director, decided to find the answer when he turned 21. He rode a motorcycle with sidecar across Asia and Europe through 13000 miles and 8 countries, met 17 youths who were born on the exactly same day with him and produced a documentary based on his travel stories named Another Me in This World. It was broadcasted in CCTV Documentary Channel during 2015 Chinese Spring Festival after two and half years’ traveling, video shooting and editing.

Poster of Documentary Another Me in This World / Photo provided by Yang Fan studio

Born on Oct 5, 1990

I met Yang Fan in January 17 this year in his own studio located in Yizhuang Culture Park, a newly developed area outside Beijing’s five rings.

Born in 1990, been called the post-90s generation, but he looks more mature than the peers. You can’t say it’s because of his moustache, the tattoos on arms, or hidden stories from his deep eyes. When you met him, you know it.

His life track goes on in an unimaginable unusual way.

He dropped out of school at the age of 13 and finished the bicycle tour from Chengdu to Lhasa on Sichuan-Tibet line in the same year. When he was 16, he started shooting his first video work and won Nomination Award of Milan International Sports Film and Television Festival held in Italy. One year later, his personal collection of travel notes, poems and essays named Running in the Dark was published. At 18, he swam across Qiongzhou Strait as his coming-of-age ceremony. At 19, as a young director he shot a documentary about Yao Ming and Shanghai basketball team. It was broadcasted on CCTV in 2011 and graded 9.2 (10 as full mark) on Douban, China’s most popular film rating platform.

These legendary life stories don't come easy. To successfully swim across Qiongzhou Strait at age 18, he dip in the swimming pool for over 3 months; when he edit Yao Ming team’s documentary, he locked himself in studio for over one year; when he had to work late night to 3 am or 4 am, he stayed and had a little sleep at studio.

People met on the road

3 weeks before departing day of his first tour, on June 25, 2012, Yang released one trailer of his shooting plan of documentary Another Me in This World.

“I will set off from Beijing and ride my beloved homemade motorcycle.”He explained his shooting plan in the trailer:”The first destination country will be Mongolia. In each country I go through, one female and one male will be chosen as this documentary’s main characters.”

“Among them, there may be athletes, dancers, poets, rock musicians, boxers, gap year travelers, surfers, people on horseback, people seeking for jobs, people in confusion,” Yang pictured a map of people he wanted to record before he started his journey.

After two and half years’ searching and shooting, filled his map with life tracks of a post-90s Mongolian mother, a Russian rap singer, an orphan who was abandoned at age 13, a college student from Moscow state university, a Finnish girl who just broke up with boyfriend, a student from University of Iceland, a Estonian man who has a strong passion for cooking, a Belgian patient suffered from Tourette's syndrome and a Polish sales boy in a shoe store who is fond of art.

Their lives may be different but they have one thing in common: they were all born on Oct, 5, 1990 and get connected through Yang Fan.

Ba Songhu is the first character Yang planned to record. When Yang met this 21 year old girl in Mongolia, she had been pregnant for 7 months. Compared with many youths at the same age, Ba had stepped an advanced pace of life.

But Ba told Yang that it’s very common for Mongolian girls at this age to deliver a baby. Life is not easy for her. When Yang paid a second visit to Ba two years later, Ba had been a mother of two children. Ba’s husband had to find a job far way his family to make a living.

Yang said he felt it’s so important to record what it is like of today’s global youth’s lives, “the most unique part is that through presenting completely different life experiences, I wish it would give a glance of lives of 21-year-olds all around the world.”

Yang Fan(left) and Marx Photo/Sina Weibo@杨帆Film

Yang, Young, Younger

When Yang took oral English course, his teacher asked Yang what his English name is, he insisted that he didn’t like an English name with no connections with him.

“You can just call me Yang. It sounds like ‘Young’ and I like both its pronunciation and the meaning it referred to,” Yang replied the teacher.

In Yang Fan’s profile on his Douban homepage, he tagged three key words: young, alcohol and rock music.

On his Weibo homepage, he posted a list of items he likes and another list of items he dislikes.

“Things I like: Coca-Cola, Friday, mustard, young, heavy rain, Drum Tower, extreme sports, love poems, immature, surfing, South America culture, kiss, rebellion, and fireworks; Things I dislike: secular, porridge, subway line 1, sunlight, freshness, happiness, affectation, poor-behaved, KTV, smoking, mediocre, and mature,” quoted from his posts.

“Yang” and “Young” seem to be two key words in his life. During his two and half a year’s travel and video shooting, he did many things that “sound crazy”.

Streaking in Iceland’s snowfield, jumping into ice lake in winter with Finnish girl born on same day with him, selling Beijing Baozi in Helsinki’s street, Yang’s world smells like filled with teen spirit.

Yang Fan with the Finnish girl Hanna who jump into ice lake with him /Photo provided by Yang

Set off again

Almost one year has passed since Yang Fan’s documentary broadcasted in CCTV during last Spring Festival. Now a new season of this documentary has been on its way.

“With previous experience and lessons, this time I want to do better,” said Yang.

A new trailer had been released recently. This time Yang wants his map of characters’ searching can cover almost every country in Europe.

Vicky is in charge of Yang Fan’s searching plan now. Currently she has contacted 20 volunteers to search people in Europe who were born on Oct 5, 1990, explore into stories behind them and choose the character that is suitable for camera shooting and stories sharing.

“It’s not an easy job. To search, to contact, and to negotiate all need efforts and sometimes luck. But I’m so happy there are so many people who volunteered to get involved in this program and offer help,” Vicky said as she typed fast to communicate with one of candidates of the second season of this documentary.

Early communication with part of candidates was going on in Europe by this documentary’s producer team. The night before they set off, Yang worked late night to 3 am with his team for preparing work. For him, staying up late has been a frequent state.

On Yang’s Weibo, he ever wrote down such poem lines:

I love you tomorrow

I walk through scalding snow

Why I’m always on the road?

When I’m thirsty, gasoline can comfort me.

#纪录片导演 #人物 #YOUTH