Pelin: The film begins and ends with quotes by the local Miao people, which mention the existence of ghosts in the village. While shooting the film, did they talk more about the identity of these ghosts in more detail?
 

Dongnan: Ghosts are quite a complex concept among the Miao people. Before Christianity came in, the Miao revered ghosts and made friends with them, but, at the same time, feared them. After Christianity, the Miao ghosts would often be mixed up with Satan and so the Miao people would talk about all of them without making a clear distinction. There are many very specific depictions of ghosts in the village, with the most intricate one dating back to times during the Cultural Revolution. It’s about a female ghost who steals skirts in the village. She was a local girl in the village there when she was alive, but because she wasn’t allowed to love freely, she ultimately attempted suicide by hanging herself. The villagers didn’t realize she was still breathing, so they ended up burying her alive. The girl became a ghost and started to steal the villagers’ skirts, which are extremely valuable clothing items in the Miao culture. She would wash them all and hang them up over the mountains and trees to dry. This isn’t some legend; it’s a ghost story that many villagers have personally experienced before. To this day, people often say that they encountered something in all black and then suddenly saw someone in the night’s darkness. Though, we didn’t choose to use a specific concept of a ghost in the film but presented it as a widespread presence instead.

 

Pelin: In a similar way, do you also have your own ghosts following you around?

Dongnan: Haha, my ghosts don’t seem to follow me all the time. They occasionally do, though, I think.

 

Pelin: Considering the topic and subjects of the film, it seems like a miracle to me that this film even exists. Have you had any difficulties caused by the authorities during any stage of the film’s process and if you did would you be willing to share an anecdote of such?

Dongnan: Not really. In addition to being among the film’s subjects, Official Zhang agreed to the film’s shooting and did so without any binding, conditional limits. On the one hand, of course, the choir needed publicity too. Also, in addition to him being an official, he has an identity as an artist himself too.

 

Pelin: Joining a community and conforming to it seems to be a repeating motif throughout the film, be it either through religion or music/choir. However, it can also be seen that the ones in the community continue to suffer on a personal level without getting the help they need from the community. Was the depicted contrast intentional? What was your initial motivation for making this film and what message did you want to convey?

Dongnan: For a villager of Xiaoshuijing, one not only has to face the new outside world but also the suppression from the inherent rules of the village itself, which makes everything twice as hard. It becomes even more complicated when we take the historical developments into account because the Miao people have been displaced and forced to flee throughout history, so, the Xiaoshuijing village is more like a space where different dominating cultures compete to seize the territory from each other, resulting in a continuous state of identity loss. It’s just like the way singing was meant to be a form of oral history initially. The legend says that the Miao lost their written language in the wars, which transformed into the choir established by Western missionaries, which then became the choir led by the propaganda department today. Be it passive or active, the villagers are constantly in a wave of change, transforming their very selves, simply seeking a way to survive.

 

Pelin: The choir photographer argues that painting one’s eyes without knowing their soul is impossible. The film itself, however, features many close-up shots of the eyes of locals. Would you argue that cinema is more intimate and observant in this case then? What are your thoughts as a filmmaker on your effect on the locals’ lives after shooting this film?

Dongnan: Well, close-ups are probably more on the intuitive side of things, and I personally am fascinated by the facial features of several of the main characters too. The whole film also has a relatively calm tone, with many things not happening in plain sight but rather in the details, so I can say that there’s more emphasis on those subtle close-up shots. Besides, from the shooting stage to the completion of the film, and especially last year, I gradually realized that the people in the film were very relatable to me and my life. I didn’t feel this way at the very beginning of this project. We all had some form of a soul trade without realizing it, I think. This process was very quiet, sometimes pleasant even, without the intense violence of oppression, but it’s obvious that it still succeeded in changing many things.

 

Pelin: What are your plans for your next film? What themes interest you in documentaries?

Dongnan: After “Singing in the Wilderness”, I shot a new feature last year called “Whispers in May” which is a fusion of documentary, fiction, and a road trip film about a girl of the Yi ethnicity. I shot this film in the Daliang Mountains, Sichuan, and it’s currently in the post-production stage. This year, I also just shot a short film about the Dafen Oil Painting Village in Shenzhen, which is also in the post-production stage. Also, I’m writing other scripts and want to try a drama film too.