We were lucky to catch up with Jackie Fang recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Jackie, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
I grew up always been an active kid. I like to climb trees, run and rollerblading, which means I got injured very often. Nothing major ever happened, but I became very used to bruises and broken skins at a young age. I don’t remember when, but it became something that I never cry about. I would go to the neighborhood clinic (as a regular visitor) to have the nurse clean up my wound, walk home, and keep doing what I was doing. I went to a military style boarding high school. It was a huge school that was surrounded by wheat fields, in a village of China. The principle believes in tougher environment builds resilience so there was no AC in the summer, no heater in the winter. There were also no hot water in my dorm, in order to shower in the summer, we’d have to go a specific spot on campus to get hot water with big thermos and carry them all the way back to the dorm. Every one would stand in a big basin, mix the hot and the cold water, using a plastic bowl to scoop the water onto our bodies. We also had to run for 1,200 meters every morning, despite the condition of the weather. I used to wake up every day at 5am and go to bed at midnight during my time there. Looking back now, I think it was an invaluable experience of my life, at where I pushed the limit of both my body and my mind, to cope and adapt myself to the given.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I am a cinematographer, and I love what I do. Drawing from fine arts and dedicating in visually represent emotions, I have strong aesthetics in lighting, color and texture and intuition in movements. I have over seven years of cinematography and photography practice, photographed over ten short films and one feature length project. Stealing from one of the best cinematographer in the world, Rodrigo Prieto, I want to be a DP that “doesn’t have a style but has taste”.
Curiosity is the most important thing to me as an artist. It makes me a good listener and keeps me always intrigued. I don’t like repetition or the concept of having a “favorite”, doing the same thing over and over again or only stick to one thing doesn’t excite me, so I always try to find a new way to interpret a story, try a different way to light a scene, shoot with a different camera or lens.
I’m currently prepping a short film that will be filmed in Fes, Morocco. It is a story of lost and found and misunderstanding between two women. I’m very excited for the project and to film in Morocco. As a female and POC filmmaker, I want to help to tell more stories of women and minorities and be in support of their storytellers.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
To me, the first and foremost quality is kindness and empathy. I think it is the most important thing as a human being, being able to be kind to yourself and to others and to have empathy for others. And as a filmmaker, it is even more important to have these. We are practicing an art that ultimately deals with emotions, that we all want to make films that move people from the inside. Kindness and empathy are also very needed when working on set, because filmmaking is a collaborative process so it is necessary to make all participants feel that they contributed to the project. Second quality I would say is respect and equality. My mother used to tell me that everyone who makes a living by their two hands deserve equal respect. Never underestimate anybody and always advocate for equality. As a leader of my team, I always try to establish a respectful and equal team environment with both race and gender diversity. It is also important for me that my team knows that I will always protect them and advocate for their needs if needed.
The third but definitely not the last quality is gratefulness. Always be thankful and appreciative. Like my professor at UCLA William McDonald always say, “be overly thankful, say thank you to everyone for everything.” It is not just about politeness, but to make others feel that their efforts were meaningful. I began to even be thankful to the negative experience in life, because there are always something to learn from.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
I’m always looking for creative voices! The filmmakers I want to collaborate the most are the ones with authenticity and integrity. I’m looking for stories about genuine human experience and connection, especially in the underrepresented communities. I want to work with more female, POC and non-binary filmmakers and make films that can make people feel.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://jackiefang.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/queenofcablewrapping/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackie-fang-463130172/
Image Credits
Image 6: Still from Short Film ” The Night Till We Say Goodbye” by Muqi Liu Image 7: Still from Short Film “Ministry of Loneliness” by Randa Ali Image 8: Still from Short Film “Kingdom of Strangers” by Randa Ali
