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

Junru, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I recently hosted the East Coast premiere of Snow Leopard at Yale University, which stands as the most meaningful project I’ve undertaken. Snow Leopard is the latest and likely last film by Tibetan director Pema Tseden, who was a pioneering figure in Tibetan cinema. He was the first director to use a contemporary cinematic narrative style to tell Tibetan stories, and was also a renowned screenwriter and bilingual author in Tibetan and Mandarin. With his serene and evocative visual storytelling, he depicted the encounter between tradition and modernity, becoming a representative figure of the “Tibetan New Wave” cinema. Tragically, he passed away in May last year, shortly after completing Snow Leopard.

The film is set against the backdrop of a globally endangered snow leopard killing nine rams belonging to a herdsman. It explores the differing perspectives and motivations of various people sharing the same land. Each party has its own choice and determination about whether to release the snow leopard trapped in the sheep pen. What seems like reasonable demands become the spark that intensifies multiple conflicts.

Pema Tseden spent three years conceiving and producing Snow Leopard since 2020; the pandemic made the already challenging filming in the Tibetan Plateau even harder. While it’s not an exciting commercial film, you can perceive Pema’s reflections on life, karma, and his deep compassion. Many filmmakers and curators in China volunteered to promote this film, trying to extend its theatrical window as if passing a torchlight.

I always admire Pema’s work and hope to pay him homage, so I decided to present Snow Leopard to the East Coast audience. Thanks to the support of my friends and the Association of Chinese Students and Scholars at Yale, it became true. We also had the pleasure of having Jigme Trinley, the assistant director of this film and Pema’s son, join us as our special guest for the Q&A session via Zoom. The other guest was Wencai Yao, a promising director and East Asian Film Studies scholar. Their insights sparked an intellectual and poetic dialogue. More than one hundred audiences came to support the screening. We had a meaningful and profound conversation about the film itself and Tibetan culture.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m a versatile film industry professional. Starting from a screenwriter envisioning stories, my roles span from film producer to film curator. The pleasure of finding audiences for films and the satisfaction of initiating a project motivated me to found WhimLens Studio with a group of like-minded people. We are exploring how to connect films with audiences in more creative ways, making room for curiosity and imagination.

The role of WhimLens is in between a film curator and a film distributor. We curate films worth more attention and find audiences for films. But it doesn’t have to be limited to theatrical space, especially when we promote independent films. Now we are collaborating with academic institutions and art spaces. I have hosted screening events at prestigious universities including Rutgers, Pittsburgh, Johns Hopkins, and Yale. We are naturally closer to our targeted audiences, and they would give thoughtful and genuine feedback. Our audiences also tend to be opinion leaders active in their close circles, spontaneously sharing and contributing ideas. Their social media posts often help us to gain a stronger impression.

As the founder of WhimLens and the film curator, I am passionate about transforming the film-watching experience into a therapeutic journey that heals and inspires. Almost every media and content is fighting for our attention, but I would highlight watching films is just spending time with it. You don’t have to wrestle with the film, nor must you fully understand the story or draw any conclusions. More and more audiences are telling us how our events inspired them.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

It deepens my internal world; I savor sadness just as I appreciate happiness. Every life experience and emotion is worth exploring. Engaging in creative work demands heightened perception and imagination. I can’t simply normalize events and let them pass; instead, I actively seek poetry and wonder, even in the mundane.

I have become more grateful for encounters with people, accepting of various situations. It has truly broadened my perspective. In YiYi, a film directed by Taiwanese director Edward Yang, a character said “Since the invention of cinema, human life has been extended at least three times.” Through an artistic and creative lens, life experiences can surely be intensified.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

One aspect people outside the creative industry might overlook is that being creative is different from making a living through creative productivity. While many imagine that creativity is a constant flow of inspiration, the reality is that it involves a significant amount of discipline, routine, and sometimes even mundane tasks. There’s a need for necessary and repeated practice to hone skills and perfect one’s craft.

Professionals in creative fields must balance the spark of creativity with the practicalities of deadlines, client expectations, and market demands. This can be a challenging juggling act. It’s not just about waiting for inspiration to strike but about showing up every day, ready to work, even when creativity feels elusive.

Creatives often draw from personal experience, emotions, and observations, transforming them into something that resonates with others. This emotional labor, coupled with the need for continuous improvement and adaptation, is something that isn’t always visible from the outside.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joyzhang_42/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joy-zhang-multimedia-creator

Image Credits

He Ru
Maggie Pao