Face Changing

The film focuses on presenting the contradictions between the old and the new generations of Sichuan Opera actors about Art and Life. The traditional art culture has been searching for the way of living in modern society. The film narrates from the perspective of a small figure and presents the difficulties and warmth in the Sichuan Opera family on the way of inheritance.
Jiang Cheng learned Sichuan Opera and face-changing skills from his father since childhood. Because of the decay of this industry, he could not live a decent life like his father. He made a living by performing face-changing as a street entertainer. His father was greatly disgusted regarding this as defamation of the Sichuan Opera, but helpless for the changes in society and the decline of this traditional art. Since his father got ill, Jiang Cheng worked harder to earn money to support the family, and wanted to prove to his father that he never abandoned the pursuit of art. One day, the power failure caused by a road accident made his father's breathing ventilator stop running. Jiang Cheng got the news when he was on the stage, and he had to cross the entire Chengdu city, even with the costumes on, to see his father probably for the last time.The original inspiration comes from the visual image of “face-changing actors in gorgeous costumes running on the streets of big cities”. The highlight and difficulty of the film is the natural and impactful integration of Sichuan Opera elements into the modern atmosphere. Family love and the ultimate concept reconciliation of the two generations can be understood as the mutual adaptation and acceptance of the modern environment and traditional art.

  • Quanwei Liu
    Director
  • Hanbang Wang
    Writer
  • Jiang Xia
    Producer
  • Qiang Ding
    Key Cast
  • Yawen Li
    Editor
  • Guangcheng Mao
    Art Director
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    变脸
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    17 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    July 20, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    600,000 CNY
  • Country of Origin:
    China
  • Country of Filming:
    China
  • Language:
    Chinese
  • Shooting Format:
    RED
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.35:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Quanwei Liu

Introduction of Director Quanwei Liu: Member of the China Television Director Committee; Visiting Professor of Asian Microfilm College. He graduated from the Beijing Film Academy and studied Hollywood movies in the United States.
He has served as director of CCTV, producer of Gansu TV and director of Lanzhou Film Studio. So far, he has directed more than ten films, many TV dramas and nearly one hundred advertisements and promotional films. He enjoys unique and distinctive director style, especially the style of filming beautiful images. In recent years, many films he directed won wide acceptance nationwide and were broadcasted on CCTV Movie Channel. He also won awards at many famous film festivals such as Beijing International Film Festival, Shanghai International Film Festival, Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival, Asian Microfilm Festival, Asian New Media Film Festival, and Chinese American Film Festival.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

The film focuses on presenting the contradictions between the old and the new generations of Sichuan Opera actors about Art and Life. The traditional art culture has been searching for the way of living in modern society. The film narrates from the perspective of a small figure and presents the difficulties and warmth in the Sichuan Opera family on the way of inheritance.
The lead of the film is Ding Qiang, a professional Sichuan Opera actor, who is more real and can display more unique opera actor spirit than film actors. After interviewing him this film absorbs Ding Qiang’s life experience and thoughts and presents the joys and sorrows of Sichuan Opera practitioners. The film story is a combination of Chengdu's real urban warmth events and artistic tension and shows the warm affections of Chengdu city.
We hope that this film will manifest the rich texture of the opera culture. The scenes are shot in Chengdu's old town and the high-tech development zone, which echo the story’s intention of integrating old culture with new and present the unique urban culture atmosphere of Chengdu. Photographers, Lighting technicians, Colorists and Art directors are all the local creators, who integrate their impressions and understanding of Chengdu into the film.
The original inspiration comes from the visual image of “face-changing actors in gorgeous costumes running on the streets of big cities”. The highlight and difficulty of the film is the natural and impactful integration of Sichuan Opera elements into the modern atmosphere, which is quite different from the traditional drama theme films. This film discusses, besides the cultural heritage, the bitter living problems which can be answered by family love. The ultimate concept reconciliation of the two generations can be understood as the mutual adaptation and acceptance of the modern environment and traditional art.