After Mr. Zhang expressed his gratitude to the audience for watching his movie, coordinator Professor Ishizaka Kenji introduced the relationship between the Chinese filmmaker and Fukuoka. Mr. Zhang has been visiting Fukuoka almost every year since 2007, when he first participated in the Focus on Asia Fukuoka International Film Festival. So far, seven of his movies have been screened at the festival. As his relationship with Fukuoka deepened, his ideas for movies grew, resulting in the Fukuoka Trilogy. Many Fukuoka City and Fukuoka Prefecture citizens were involved in the process of making the three movies, further deepening their relationship with the director through filmmaking.

In the forum, Professor Ishizaka asked Mr. Zhang questions about his unique approach to character portrayals in the movie Fukuoka which led to a closer look at the filmmaker’s view on life and the world. When Professor Ishizaka said that the movie depicts “drunken men and reliable women” to emphasize the difference between male and female characters, Mr. Zhang nodded sharing his own experience: “Men feel a strong sense of responsibility to work, but I find it interesting how they slowly let go and change as they drink. I am the same. Whereas, many women are bravely moving forward. In my family, my mother and sister are more reliable.”

Mr. Zhang has created the genre of “East Asian” movies and is expressing a view of the world that transcends borders. Regarding how to direct actors so that they can naturally communicate with each other despite speaking in different languages, he stated: “Words are a means of communication. My ideal is for everyone to speak their own beautiful language to communicate with each other without obstacles, rather than only using the languages of powerful nations. I have embodied that vision in my movies.”

Professor Ishizaka asked Mr. Zhang another question: “Your movie depict somewhere between presence and absence, something that seems obvious yet unobvious. What is your view on that? ” Mr. Zhang responded, “The visible and the invisible are not clearly divided, but there are many points of contact between them,” expressing his belief that there are many things like this in our memories, such as deceased family members and memorable places. He also explained his way of directing movies combines reality and fantasy, explaining how everyone imagines various things in their minds. He added in his own unique words, “I believe our everyday lives are of one-third reality and two-thirds fantasy.”

He also mentioned that poems by Yun Dong-ju, which appear in various scenes of his movies, serve as a bridge between reality and fantasy, sharing his technique of utilizing the unique rhythm of poems by the Korean poet to guide the audience to fantasy. The poet Yun Dong-ju was born in Mr. Zhang’s hometown. The Chinese film director expressed his respect for the Korean poet’s way of valuing Korean, his native language, in his daily life in China. Answering a question from the audience about why he had not used background music in his movies, he mentioned that his policy is to avoid as much as possible guiding audiences emotionally through music. 

Regarding his selection of shooting locations, he said that he placed greater importance on spaces used in daily life than famous tourist destinations. He further elaborated on that by saying: “I choose spaces where I can feel the emotions and customs of ordinary people. I believe that spaces with a real sense of everyday life are more likely to encourage a reaction in the audience of the movie.”

At the end of the discussion, Mr. Zhang declared his intention to shoot a movie in Fukuoka again, drawing loud applause from the audience. The event, held at a movie theater, came to a close with all participants expressing their hope for continued lasting ties between Mr. Zhang and Fukuoka.