After finishing The Case and Chinese Father, the first two
films of its ten-film series, Yunnan New Film Project starts preparing for the
next two which will be shot this end of year. The film which is going to be shot
next April is titled Shangri-La . The Taiwan director Ismene
Ting has just come back from Shangri-La, Yunnan for the preproduction of her
film Shangri-La.
Director Ismene Ting in Shangri-La. [Photo by
Yunnan New Film Project]
Shangri-La is one of the ten films of Yunnan New Film Project. It
tells a sad and touching story. A mother living in Taiwan comes sadly to
Shangri-La when her little child dies in a car accident, and she finds herself
finally in the holy and beautiful place.
Shangri-La is the only film directed by Taiwan director, and it will be shot
next April in Taiwan and Shangri-La Yunnan. The crew's main work this time in
Shangri-La is to find the shooting places there, which will take 2/3 scenes of
the whole film. Yila Prairie and Meili Snowing Mountain will be shown in the
film.
The director Ismene Ting was born in Taiwan and her hometown is in Yunnan,
but it's her first time to go back to her hometown. She says she has been
dreaming of Yunnan, she feels very excited when comes to Shangri-La. She hopes
to find a special angle in her film to show the beauty of Yunnan, from which the
Taiwai people could know Yunnan, and the Yunnan locals could find something new
from their hometown.
Ismene Ting,a native of Taiwan, graduated from
University of California, Berkley, majoring in comparative literature. A
talented actress and director, she is the chief member of Taiwan's 'Performance
Workshop', a theatre group that has pioneered the use of improvisational
performance throughout Asia. The stage works Ting has participated in are
considered to be some of the most exciting Chinese theatre in the world.
Shangri-La was based on her stage work of the same name.
