Myanmar-born Taiwanese filmmaker Midi Z will be back in Cannes for this year's international film festival. No stranger to the Croisette, he will take up the role of mentor as he hosts two weeks of workshops aimed at helping young people from around the globe to reach their goals.
"La Fabrique Cinéma" is a workshop for budding filmmakers from Africa, South America, Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East that takes place every year during the two-week festival.
Created in 2009 by the L’Institut Français – a French government agency for cultural development – the workshop has been instrumental in helping many young directors get their fledgling projects off the ground and onto the international festival circuit.
To date, 50 films have been finalised since its inception from a selection of more than 120 projects with more than 200 directors.
Crucial in the embryonic phase of the film development, the programme has seen at least 350 selections for international festivals such as Venice, Toronto, Berlin, and, of course, Cannes.
Zhao Te-yin, better known as Midi Z, is one of La Fabrique's success stories. The 40-year-old director has eight films and documentaries to his name, and several in the works.
His film "Nina Wu" was screened as part of the "Un Certain Regard" category at the Cannes Film Festival in 2019.
He says his time at La Fabrique in 2012 was a huge help.
His 2016 film "The Road to Mandalay" was one of 10 projects that benefitted from the workshop and went on to receive funding from the CNC, France’s national cinema board.
It was met with critical acclaim in France and abroad, winning the Fedeora best film award at the Mostra festival in Venice.
Midi Z is humble when asked about how he feels to be invited back to the Cinémas du Monde Pavillon at the International Village at Cannes, this time donning the hat of mentor.
Overcoming political, social obstacles
"I feel very honoured," he told RFI, adding that he doesn’t see this as an opportunity to preach, but rather to exchange openly and honestly with the other participants.
He says he sees himself as a beginner of sorts because he prepares for a new film to be shot in Taiwan later this year. This will be his first time shooting in English, so he’s both nervous and excited.
He points out that participants are, like himself, from regions of the world where filmmakers face an uphill battle due to political or social instability, as well as lack of infrastructure and funding.
His own experience is a case in point. When he set out to make films in Myanmar 20 years ago he often had to film with hidden cameras as he wasn’t able to get permission to film in public.
He told RFI that things improved by 2015 but since 2020, the situation has gone steadily down hill due to the Covid pandemic and the coup in Myanmar in February 2021.
One of his projects is suspended, waiting for the necessary permission from the authorities.
For Midi Z, La Fabrique Cinéma is more than a simple opportunity to make a film, it’s about defending the creative process. He is adamant that filmmakers, as a team, need to show solidarity for one another in the name of making art.
French freedom
Facing up to the restrictions and overcoming them without losing one’s artistic voice is an important goal, and France has always been a model for freedom in filmmaking, he says.
Ever since he was young, reading Gustave Flaubert, and other French authors at school, Midi Z says he has held France’s reverence towards cinema and art in high esteem.
"I get a lot of inspiration from French cinema because normally you make a product for the market but in France you are more open, more free to describe things," he added.
Self-taught, Midi Z uses his duel cultural identity to tell the stories of those left on the margins of society, be it illegal immigrants, or those forced to work in precarious jobs to avoid poverty.
Diversity, unity
He says he considers himself lucky to have dual heritage, because it presents him as an outsider able to see things from a more pure and neutral perspective, which he maintains is an advantage for a filmmaker.
Part of the strength of La Fabrique, he enthuses, is its ability to capitalise on a wealth of cultural exchanges over the two weeks.
"La Fabrique for me is meaningful because it is very diverse, with different backgrounds and stories. For filmmaking, and for art, one thing that is important besides diversity is unity."
Ten projects have been selected to participate in "La Fabrique Cinéma" workshops between 17 and 28 May, with filmmakers from Burkina Faso, Egypt, India, Nepal, Rwanda, Ukraine and Vietnam.
Mexico and Pakistan are participating for the first time.
Follow all the news updates of the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, 17 to 28 May, with RFI, media partner for La Fabrique Cinéma.
