by Daan Schneider
In “The Ark”, Dan Wei filmed his dying grandmother in a somber black-and-white and a 1:1 aspect ratio. The film premiered at IDFA 2020, as part of the competition for feature-length documentaries. We talked to the director about this deeply personal project.
Why did you want to make this film?
Dan Wei: My grandmother had been sick for a long time. I’m the second son of her first-born daughter. At the beginning of this year, I visited her in the hospital almost everyday, while she was on the verge of death. She used to take care of me when I was a child. We were very close. It was painful to see that she couldn’t make it this time. I thought of recording her last days, as a memento. I didn’t have a camera with me, so I used my phone. That’s how I started recording my grandma,...
In “The Ark”, Dan Wei filmed his dying grandmother in a somber black-and-white and a 1:1 aspect ratio. The film premiered at IDFA 2020, as part of the competition for feature-length documentaries. We talked to the director about this deeply personal project.
Why did you want to make this film?
Dan Wei: My grandmother had been sick for a long time. I’m the second son of her first-born daughter. At the beginning of this year, I visited her in the hospital almost everyday, while she was on the verge of death. She used to take care of me when I was a child. We were very close. It was painful to see that she couldn’t make it this time. I thought of recording her last days, as a memento. I didn’t have a camera with me, so I used my phone. That’s how I started recording my grandma,...
- 12/10/2020
- by Guest Writer
- AsianMoviePulse
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