Shooting the documentary (1)

I just got back to gray and smoggy Beijing after about two months in subtropical Dehong, the sunny land of the Jingpo minority. Traveling between these two places is nothing unusual for me, but this time I really need some kind of break, to do some reorganizing, and get used to the inhumane Beijing winter. The last week there in Dehong was the first week of shooting for the documentary. A team from Tianjin TV is making a documentary, with me myself, including my art and my life with the Jingpo, as the main topic. Since I am a modest and shy person, one can imagine that this period of shooting may have had some impact on me.

pic (1) the team, on a bridge between China and Myanmar
pic (2) the team (minus one) plus Li Yang and me (left) on the same bridge



A formidable team they are: two cameramen, the director, her boss the chief director, plus the beautiful presenter, all of them very pleasant people. They are greatly experienced and very professional, and since they are not in for making fake and superficial stuff, my main task was just to be myself. Unfortunately, being ‘just’ myself can be a very hard task for me, since I am a rather multiple being and tend to make the simplest things very complicated. While you watch the following pictures, I will do some rethinking. More will follow in the next blog.

(3) with the old man living on top of Loilung Hill


(4) back in time, once again studying with my old informant Pai Kun while he is cooking


Lately, every night I dream that I am still in some Jingpo village and that the filming continues there. I assist a shaman on some vague ceremony or we together are waiting for some surreal painting activity for village kids to start. I wonder how long these dreams will remain coming back. The real filming will start again in a week or so here in Beijing, and will be mainly about: me painting, doing music, cooking, talking about life, and maybe some unexpected other topics.