We were lucky to catch up with Shu Zhang recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Shu thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I’m making a documentary with some unhoused friends in Van Nuys.

It’s a very controversial topic, i’m trying to handle it as careful as i can.

Been living in Van Nuys for two years now, how can I see people everyday but do nothing.

Shu, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I did my undergrad in film directing back in China, now currently finishing my MFA degree in CalArts. So i have been making films for 6 years. The work i make is mostly hybrid of fiction and non-fiction. Or just simply non-fiction. Currently I’m making a documentary about the unhoused situation in Van Nuys. I’ve been living in Van Nuys for two years now and I’m so in love with this place.

What sets me apart:
I’m using a very observational but also some part are reenactment performative way to make this film . That made this film very controversial. About gazing poverty , gazing violence. Trying to confront the audiences about their own guilt and shame in the society nowadays.

I don’t use close ups or interviews.
Cause close ups are so over used here. I refuse the audiences to easily simply empathize with the subject. Cause once they empathize, they actually thinks they can understand the situation of homelessness. That’s how they feel less guilty. It is a very hypocritical liberal gesture.

I’m allergic to interviews because the quickest way to know people is by asking them questions, instead of really spending time with them, be friends and really become part of each others live.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I always tell myself, very irrationally : Courage is the only virtue .

We all get so institutionalized, how to still be alive. How to be less rational, how to question authority, how to try not become an authority. I know it’s impossible, but can we try ?

Pessimism is nihilism, there’s no “okay i get it now, but what’s next?”. What’s next is the most important.
The world is getting more and more extreme. But I believe that art is a bridge. Instead of thinking each other are stupid, let’s have a conversation.
But this idea itself is dangerous too. Because seems like nowadays, if you’re not right, you’re wrong. Very extreme , very black and white.

The backstory is the previous answer of the my experience of making the documentary.
We really need to be brave enough to be who we are.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

It keeps me thinking, i always have a million questions to the world , how great is that!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: shushu_1012

Image Credits
Shu Zhang