Today we’d like to introduce you to Cindy Di Xin.
Hi Cindy Di, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born in Nanning GX, China, a small city close to Vietnam. I am raised by my grandma from my mother’s side. My dad’s family is a traditional Chinese family. They really want my parents to have a son in order to have someone to keep the family name, which affected me a lot. My grandma from my mother’s side is the closest person in my life. My family’s dynamic is interesting due to amount of relatives and different kinds of social class backgrounds, which also inspires me to share more Chinese family culture and stories in my film. I studied in the States when I was in high school due to my parent’s marriage problems. Upon this opportunity, I also got a chance to live with 2 American families for two years.
After the first two years, I started my new life in the states by myself and became an independent girl who really excited to her life journey. In my past life, I have been through so many kinds of relationship experiences from my own and my parents. Loneliness is the word always around me. I am an introvert person; I have experienced some of the things and feelings that I eager to share and finding people who have the same feeling as me; but I am not brave enough to do that or tell. I started to try finding the connection from movie, and I started to watch so many movies. After I have several times of these processes, I realize I can find similar stories that connect with me and that helped me relief and heal, but what is the character’s feelings have always been minimizing in a film.
From that on, I always try to catch up and analyze and remember the feelings that I feel and want to make a film is not only talk/share about a story but focus more on the character’s internal feeling. I think the film is a media for connecting people from group to group. I want to make my audience to feel less lonely in their lives from my film. That brought me to this role as a filmmaker, a small median person.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No, not at all, especially for a filmmaker without family or expertise in the industry. My parents would come to the first challenge. My parents doesn’t have any experiences and interested in art. My parents aren’t interested in art but lack experience. They always desire me and dream of the day when I’ll have a steady career like other people and a work-life totally irrelevant to the film industry. Three years ago, I vividly recall how eager I was to present my parents with my film. From the beginning to the finish, there was quiet. Even though I still have a long way to go until they fully get what I am doing right now, I will continue to tell them about my experiences as a filmmaker.
Along with dealing with my parents’ issues, being a foreign woman filmmaker in the American film industry is difficult. People always prefer to work or hire those who are local or have a reliable status as residents of this country. Additionally, if you want to direct, you must work harder to convince the cast that you are just as competent as a male director. When a filmmaker is female, people tend to question her judgment and ideas more. They frequently think or believe that women are not as strong as men. As a result, it is typically simpler for male filmmakers to receive a “yes/ok” response than it is for female filmmakers. The majority of the time, women’s issues in the film industry are invisible.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a freelance film director who has directed 6 short films in the past 6 years. My films have selected in over 25 international film festivals and won over 10 festivals. In addition, My two short films <Voiceless> and <The day, at the Beach> are selected in Academy qualify festivals such as LA Shorts International Festival and Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival. After living in China and the United States, I became a bi-cultural female filmmaker. I enjoy traveling and living in different countries and cities. In my films, I enjoy telling family dramas and bi-cultural stories. My bi-cultural female perspective is beneficial in helping audiences find their voices and see the new world in their everyday lives. I also like to travel as an observer. Aside from being a filmmaker, I am also a still photographer. They are a source of inspiration for me. I think life cannot be perfect, but through cinema, people can find a solution or be healed; by trying to accept what we have in order to make our lives better and more meaningful.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
Hirokazu Koreeda’s Still Walking is my favorite movie. He is also my favourite director. He is my mentor in my life. I am a filmmaker who enjoys observing people and am fascinated by their relationships and family stories. His films are the one who constantly challenges my thinking, inspire me, and offer me fresh viewpoints on the art of relationships.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.cindy-dixin.com/
- Instagram: cindyxxindi
