The Sound Of A Car Roaring At Night: Hanxiong Bo On His Short "Drifting"
Hanxiong Bo is an LA-based filmmaker who was born and raised in Beijing. His topical film Drifting focuses on a young man who struggles with his gender identity after being raised as a girl. The film’s story was inspired by true events and was a semi-finalist at the 2019 Student Academy Awards.
Yan is an illegal second child born during the One-Child policy. To avoid government punishment, Yan's parents hid their oldest daughter in the countryside and raised Yan as a girl. Now a young adult, Yan struggles with his gender identity.
The film was selected for the San Sebastian Film Festival, Atlanta Film Festival, Busan International Short Film Festival, and FilmFest Dresden International Short Film Festival; however, due to the coronavirus outbreak, these festivals have been postponed until September. We had the opportunity to talk with Hanxiong about the film, its look, his favorite scene, and much much more!
I hope you’re staying safe and quarantine is treating you well. How are you passing the time?
Thank you, hope you are safe as well! I stare at the wall thinking, read, watch films, and write.
Drifting’s story is truly fascinating — and it’s even more so when you know it’s more than just fiction. How did you discover it, and what about it resonated with you most?
Originally I wanted to tell a story about the hidden love of a typical Chinese family. The bridge scene really happened to me. I was circled by some bullies at the time, and my parents broke into the circle to fight for me. That was a powerful moment that made me want to make this film. And my background growing as a single child makes me want to say something about the experience in the family. While I was doing the research for that specific time around when I was born, I heard about this kid who was disguised as a girl growing up. I was intrigued by that story, so I put it in my film. I think using the car drifting, the sound of the car roaring at night as a metaphor of unspoken love, resonated with me the most.
As a visual storyteller, is there anything in particular that you look for in a story?
I look for those very personal details in the relationship between human beings. I think they are fascinating, like a haircut the mom gives her children once a month.
What were some of the challenges you faced working on the film?
I think the biggest challenge was finding the main actor for the role. I couldn’t find anyone during auditions, so I went on street casting. We had to train Junxiong Wang to car drift before the shooting. It made me worry a lot, but it turned out that he was a fast learner.
The cinematography from Joewi Verhoeven is truly something special. How did you two connect, and what was your collaboration process like?
We connected when we were still in college in China. He shot my thesis film there, a zombie film called City of the Dead. He studied at Beijing Film Academy, I studied in Communication at University of China. After that, I went abroad to study film, and he went on working in the Chinese film industry. We still keep in touch sometimes, but never meet again. He had already done several features at the time. So when it was my time to shoot Drifting as my thesis film at UCLA film school, I showed him my script when I was still in the U.S. and asked him if he was interested. He said yes. Then we really started to prepare the film. We shared references constantly and chatted constantly.
How did you and Joewi discover the look for the film, and what, if anything, played into its style?
One thing we had agreed on when we were preparing is that we want to create a look that is authentic about the environment where we were filming. So we decided to not use any film lights in the production. So Joewi almost lit every scene by using only practical lighting. I think when we were on set, we didn’t communicate a lot because we had prepared a lot beforehand, and he always knew what I wanted. So he just did his thing, and I used the time to communicate with actors. It’s a great experience working with him.
Also we shared a lot of reference films, Tarkovsky’s films influenced me a lot. We also did location scouting very often, and embraced the structure of the location while we designed the shots.
Do you have a favorite scene (or one that turned out better than you expected)?
The dance scene. I originally planned another song, an old folk song in China, very slow. So we rehearsed the dance moves with a dance instructor since my main actor had never acted before and wasn’t very used to dance and body movements. I was worried that he would be nervous or shy on set and that the dance would feel unnatural. So, I secretly prepared another song (a dance song, which is actually from another actor I found on the street. I didn’t end up casting him, but I really liked the song) just to try it on set. I played this dance song to let them improvise. And my actor just did so well on set that day. He enjoyed what he was doing. So after we finished shooting the dance for the original song, we shot the scene again with the new song. I liked the result of their improv to the dance song. So I ended up using it in the film.
How did you find your cast?
Well, on the street, on a subway actually. He was definitely suspicious about me at first and walked away... Then I got to know his family and gained their trust.
What do you hope audiences take away from the film?
I think I try to say something about the gender preference, and the gender identity crisis teenagers are facing. But I also want people to appreciate the hidden love of the family. Even people in China don’t say it, the word “love,” that often.
You’re currently developing your first feature. Is there anything you can share with us about the project?
I’m still working on it, and the story is set in the U.S. this time. It’s about relationships and love in an interracial family.
What do you think? We want to know. Share your thoughts and feelings in the comments section below, and as always, remember to viddy well!