Meet Haowei Zhang | Filmmaker&Writer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Haowei Zhang and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Haowei, do you have any habits that you feel contribute to your effectiveness?
I think my curiosity in other areas sets me apart from other practitioners. I am an intensely curious person, and I often spend a lot of time learning about other fields that are not related to my profession. For example, I care about fashion trends, or I spend a lot of time reading books about sociology and psychology. These things are not directly related to my major, filmmaking. I started out spending time in other fields out of curiosity and interest, not realizing that it would help me in my career. Then, when I entered the industry and actually started making my own work, I realized that these seemingly meaningless curiosities were helping to give my work a different perspective, which gave my films a different kind of depth.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I think what makes my work most distinctive is my pursuit of art and sincerity. Many filmmakers see films as entertainment, and their greatest motivation and goal in making films is to please the audience. I certainly believe that this is crucial, and that no work can be just a solitary pleasure for the author. But as I started writing stories and making films, I realized that honest expression is what really makes your work enjoyable. Of course it’s important to entertain the audience, but this is the natural result of a great work, not the creator’s initial creative aspirations. I think creators need to think of themselves as part of the audience. Because if you create with the idea of pleasing the audience, you will realize that the so-called audience is actually one specific person after another. And there is no way for the creator to predict who is likely to see your work. Only when the creator treats himself as an audience, when the self-expression in the film can infect himself, then there is a possibility that the audience will be moved by your work. This is also the secret of the film industry’s sustainable development, in my opinion. Getting to where we are today is certainly not an easy task. Every aspect of the film industry requires tacit and efficient teamwork. How to communicate and work effectively with your team members is a process that requires constant exercise and learning. I’ve slowly come to realize that the foundation of collaboration is if you can accurately communicate your vision and ideas. Because no one can know what it will look like until it is made. You need to convey the vision and imagination in your head to your team members. Only when the whole team is aware of your vision for the work will the teamwork have a real direction.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I attended Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah for my undergraduate studies, and then I am now living temporarily in Detroit. I have great memories and times in both cities. For Savannah, being a famous tourist city throughout the United States, I think the whole city is well worth a slow visit. Savannah is a small, cozy city with a very slow pace. The entire city’s main downtown is dotted with small, beautiful, serene parks, including the setting for Forrest Gump. Savannah’s never-failing sunlight casts a pale shadow through the lush trees in the parks. Those small parks are surrounded by stores, cafes and restaurants with Savannah’s unique style. Just twenty minutes from the main town is Tybee Island. It has the most beautiful beach and sunsets I can remember.
One of the most special things about Detroit is the city’s own industrial atmosphere. Detroit was once a bankrupt city. It’s a sad history, but thanks to the creativity of Detroit’s younger generation, the abandoned buildings have been transformed into a fascinating piece of contemporary art.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I think of my mother’s support and love for me as a wave that used all of her energy to push me to the other side of the world I longed to reach. My mother was an ordinary woman, but as I grew up, I was gradually struck by my mother’s selflessness and greatness. I realized that the so-called parent-child relationship and blood connection was a sacrifice. My mother did not know anything about film expertise. Her world was small, as if she just wandered home and work every day. Movies meant nothing more to her than a form of entertainment during her leisure time. But when she found out that I wanted to come to the United States to study film and to see a wider world, she immediately agreed. She confined her life to the small city of my hometown to take care of me. But when she knew my dream, she willingly wove a pair of wings for me to fly.

Website: seriousalborada.wixsite.com/mysite

Instagram: @aalborada_

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/haowei-zhang-4283351ba

Youtube: @GOWEILETSGO

Image Credits
Picture 1: Poster of fashion film POST (COVID-19) ERA. Directed by Haowei Zhang (Shu Ji). Graphic Designer & Jewelry Designer: Hankunyu Wei.
Picture 2: Best Art Director of NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL FILM AWARDS by film SLEEPLESS. Art Director: Haowei Zhang (Shu Ji), Directed by: Siqi Zhang
Picture 3: Poster of film RATTLESNAKE IN THE DREAM. Directed by Haowei Zhang (Shu Ji). Graphic Designer: Tian Xia.
Picture 4: Poster of film JANE. First Assistant Director: Haowei Zhang (Shu Ji). Directed by Jasper Liu.
Picture 5: Poster of film SLEEPLESS. Production Designer: Haowei Zhang (Shu Ji). Directed by Siqi Zhang.
Picture 6: Poster of film COUNTDOWN. Production Designer: Haowei Zhang (Shu Ji). Directed by John Zhu.
Picture 7: Behind the scene photo of film RATTLESNAKE IN THE DREAM. Directed by Haowei Zhang (Shu Ji).
Picture 8: Behind the scene photo of film RATTLESNAKE IN THE DREAM. Directed by Haowei Zhang (Shu Ji).