Private Project

Love like bamboo

The film is about the story of a father and daughter Chinese immigrant family living in Germany. The 66-year-old father is traditional, stubborn, not very good at expressing his feelings, and a poor communicator. The 9-year-old daughter is lovely, cute, and an independent thinker. Despite the age gap, as well as the conflict and integration between Chinese and Western cultures, this expresses the development of "love" in family life through a daily scene.
Detailed description
"Bamboo"is integrated into the whole film as an artistic element. "Bamboo" has a special meaning in China; it symbolizes the endless life and the spiritual truth of love. The father, as an artist, expressed his expectation for the growth of his daughter by painting bamboo. The daughter saw real "Bamboo" for the first time in a dream, which is a metaphor for the future understanding of her father's "love" and the natural process of self-growth.

"Bamboo forest" is also a pure place praised by Buddhism and Taoism. "Bamboo" is like a kind of "dharma body", which is born of and regarded as a symbol of integrity. There are "Buddha statues" in the film, representing the belief in love in the hearts of the father and daughter, as well as the implication the "the Buddha sees all living beings as Buddhas".
The daughter saw her adult self in a dream. She complained about her father, and the adult daughter took herself to the bamboo forest as a wonderful journey across time and space.

The half cigarette left by the father on the balcony means:
1. Thinking about his wife's hesitation to confiscate his daughter's mobile phone.
2. A kind of self-restraint and management of habits: " I promised my wife to quit smoking".

The soundtrack in the film was composed by the outstanding German conductor Ms. Ustina Dubitzky and her orchestra. "Verklärte Nacht" Op.4 (Night of Sublimation) by Arnold Schoenberg, is an audio-visual experience combining a story of oriental family love and western classical music.

The colorful bamboo painting at the end of the film is the work of Professor Shan Fan (Professor Shan Fan is a famous painter and educator in China and Germany). This film is the screen debut of father and daughter, a combination of contradictions and understanding in real life and artistic integration.

The sound of the second hand as the the fades in and out is dubbed at the beginning and end of the credits, implying the growth and witness of the title theme" Liebe wie bambus"(German)
"Love like Bamboo"

  • Jiamin Qiu
    Director
  • Jiamin Qiu
    Writer
    Feast，Harper
  • Shuo Zhang
    Producer
  • Fan Shan
    Key Cast
    "Father"
  • Yuanxi Shan
    Key Cast
    "Jessie"
  • Yuanyuan Lu
    Key Cast
    "Jessie(Adult)"
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Liebe wie Bambus
  • Runtime:
    10 minutes 27 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    August 8, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    36,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Germany
  • Language:
    Chinese, German
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Jiamin Qiu

Jiamin Qiu was born on February 1, 1976 in Shanghai, China. In 2006 she came to Germany with her family to settle down as a housewife.

In 2018 , she was given the opportunity to work on a movie with the Chinese independent director Yunxing Nie， and she participated in the production of the movie"Feast" as one of the screenwriters. The film won the Golden Wolf Award in the " Rebels with a cause" section of Tallinn Black Nights International Film Festival .

In 2021，she collaborated with the Chinese American director Kate Bohan as one of the screenwriters in the film"Harper". The movie won 26 wins & 2 nominations.

Before Jiamin Qiu became an independent filmmaker, she had no exposure to filmmaking and did not study film-related majors in college. She devotes herself to this career through her love of film and her subtle observations and feelings about life , and is grateful to her partners and family who have given her the opportunity and support.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

"Love like bamboo" is the first short film that Jiamin Qiu
directed and wrote. Her production team does not specialize in film production.The actors were also first time filmmakers. They overcame a lot of difficulties, but were helped by many people. This short movie has a lot of problems, but it also lets the team see a new expectation, that is, we are not a professional movie team, we are also expressing our feelings and expectations of life through images.