谢彦仪1997年出生于中国成都，是一位纪录片电影人，于2022年获得西北大学纪录片传媒艺术硕士学位，常驻泽西市。她的作品多受个人经历的启发，聚焦于性别和文化认同等主题，曾担任艾美奖提名导演执导的纪录长片项目，任第二摄像，为芝加哥抗击亚裔仇恨游行拍摄和剪辑视频。她旨在通过影像记录个人的经历、关系和情感，强调个人在更广阔的社会和文化背景下的力量。她的作品曾入选各类影展，在芝加哥的 Gene Siskel Film Center， Music Box Theater， Block Museum 等艺术影院放映。

谢彦仪 Yanyi Xie

在谢彦仪的作品中，人们的日常生活、一言一行、细微表情都成为了她捕捉的对象。在强烈的现实主义中，她从私人性的画面挖掘能让所有观众共情的一角，讨论更深刻的主题，如亲情、思念，亲密关系中的脆弱、矛盾，个人身份的转变、追寻……无论是父母在故乡拍摄的画面、情侣间的争吵与和解，还是酷儿群体的自我表达，我们都从一个个生动的人物形象中读到他人，也读到自己。

时差 13 Hours，谢彦仪 Yanyi Xie，影像Video

关于《时差》：

《时差》是谢彦仪在疫情期间策划的影像作品。作为在美国生活了七年的留学生，自2020年夏天以来，由于机票价格飙升和严格的防疫政策，谢彦仪已经三年没有回国。在2021年秋季，她开始让父母记录他们在成都的日常生活并与她分享。父亲记录了他们去公园、步道以及附近城镇的周末活动；母亲则记录了有亲人来访的家庭晚餐。

因学业原因，她在疫情期间搬到了芝加哥。由于与外界的接触有限，她在室内度过了大量时间。在芝加哥观看父母发来的视频，她对家的渴望愈发强烈。相机镜头和视频通话成为了她走近父母的桥梁。随后，她开始在公寓里记录自己的日常生活，采用类似的方式来表达思念。

她将在不同地点、同时记录的片段进行剪辑，试图将自己和父母的两个世界融合在一起。这是一部关于家人之间渴望相聚的私人影像。谢彦仪希望通过她的个人视角，揭示在这个充满分歧的世界中生活的共同点。

时差 13 Hours，谢彦仪 Yanyi Xie，影像Video

日常场景正是生活发生的地方。就像维姆·文德斯的《柏林苍穹下》中运用上帝视角记录了柏林城里的人生百态、人们平凡琐碎的所思所想，正是无数匿名的生命片段得意让我们感怀其中的人间疾苦和快乐碎片。父母发来的视频是谢彦仪得以一窥他们生活的途径，一种通过通讯科技进行亲密体验的无奈。所有的影像仿佛陌生又熟悉的故地重游，房屋的装潢没有变，那是她从小生活的地方，父母的生活方式也未曾更改。

双线的叙事手法使得在使得成都和芝加哥两个城市、艺术家自己与父母不同的生活方式产生对照画面的同时，两处之间共通的温情通过剪辑连接起来。成都的公园已经绿意盎然，而艺术家在芝加哥的镜头常常是萧索的冬日中静默、独处的室内场景。可在艺术家父母阳光照耀的房间中传出的对话中，能听到他们对女儿细致入微的牵挂，视频电话中也能听到母亲直白的述说思念。当两个城市、两个人联系起来时，亲情顺着思绪和信号溢出。

《时差》创作于疫情时代，在联结位于地球两端之间的私人关系时，谢彦仪希望能够通过对于爱和亲情的普遍共情来连接不同背景、不同文化的观众，缩减不同世界的分歧。就像她的其它作品一样，通过私人的叙事映射一个更大的群体中，表达自己的价值观。

时差 13 Hours，谢彦仪 Yanyi Xie，影像Video

Q = 黎扬扬

A = 谢彦仪

Q：当您最初让父母拍摄日常视频时，您是只想让他们分享生活，还是已经有将这些片段剪辑进作品中的想法了？

A：在我开始这个项目之前，我父母经常会给我发一些生活视频和照片，但是这些视频拍摄得比较随意。当我有了这个项目的想法后，我让他们拍摄一些时间更长、更连贯的视频记录生活，但我没有确定如何将这些视频用于我的作品。花了几个月的时间，我每周去看看他们拍了什么，与他们沟通他们想要拍什么、我想拍什么，才慢慢确定了这些日常视频的拍摄方式和内容。

Q：《时差》中充满温情的画面使得很多流散群体观众都感同身受，您希望受众从这一作品中获得怎样的对家庭关系的共情和对更宏大社会主题的理解？

A：我认为家庭和对父母情感的主题很容易引起共情。这可能与私人经历有关。我不知道我的影片会让观众具体想起什么或感受到什么，但我看到观众的共情反应比我预期的要强烈，这一点也让我很感动。对于更宏大的社会主题，我希望我的作品能够让观众从我的视角，即一个外来者、一个离开者、一个生活在“夹缝”中的人，从日常的角度重新审视在新闻、社交媒体上因意识形态不同产生的敌对。

时差 13 Hours，谢彦仪 Yanyi Xie，影像Video

Q：和《时差》一样，您的影像作品通常使用个人经历、关系和情感来探讨更广泛的社会文化主题。请问您选择这种极具私人性的创作方式的原因是什么？在您的作品中，日常生活场景和片段扮演了什么样的角色？您认为私人叙事是怎样让观众产生共鸣的？

A：在创作这部影片时，比利时导演香特尔·阿克曼（Chantal Akerman）的电影对我产生了深远的影响。她的纪录片中包含了大量的私人影像以及对日常生活的记录。我选择拍摄这个主题的一个主要原因是，当时我在疫情期间搬到了芝加哥，与外部世界和社区的联系相对较少，无法拍摄一个关注更广泛社会现象的作品。我大部分时间都待在家里，与父母进行了许多交流。因此，拍摄这样一个主题对我来说是顺理成章的。影片中，我与父母的联系主要是通过剪辑上呈现我们日常生活场景的相似性来展现的。

我选择从个人叙事角度讲述这个主题，首先是因为我不习惯从更广泛的视角去讨论近期的社会和政治问题。我觉得这更像是一个学术研究的任务，而纪录片本身容易带有偏见，这使我认为对于我来说，这并非最佳形式。因此，我选择了从个人角度出发。其次，从我自身的感知来看，新冠病毒相关政策等事件对我的影响主要体现在个人层面上。因此，从这个角度讲述这个主题更能准确地反映我的内心感受。

时差 13 Hours，谢彦仪 Yanyi Xie，影像Video

Q：您的影像作品的核心之一是探讨个人身份认同和性别主题。您认为在当今社会中这些主题的地位和影响如何？您是否认为影像作品有助于推动关于个人身份认同和性别主题的讨论及意识形态变革？

A：在北美这方面主题的创作自由度很大，很多酷儿(Queer)作品对我创作上和个人层面上影响都很大。当然我们还在一个异性恋主导的社会里，这些影像作品离主流还是有距离，但在美国的大众媒体中有越来越多的呈现，我觉得是很好的发展。

我认为所有文化制品中，像影像、文学、戏剧、绘画等等，都有助于推动人们的意识。我在创作上更多是从个人层面出发，更注重表达私人的声音。如果每一种声音都能够得到表达，那必然会推动社会层面的影响。对观众来说，这些创作会有助于个体意识的觉醒，进而对群体的意识形态产生影响。

Long Distance Embrace: An Interview with Yanyi Xie

Yangyang Annie Li

Yanyi Xie (b.1997, Chengdu, China) is a documentary filmmaker based in Jersey City, NJ, who obtained her MFA in Documentary Media at Northwestern University in 2022. Yanyi’s works focus on topics of gender and cultural identities, some inspired from personal experience. She aims to document individuals’ experience, relations, and emotions through image-making, to emphasize the power of personal within a broader socio-cultural context. She has been the second camera person for feature documentary project directed by Emmy-nominated director, and filmed and edited video for Stop Asian Hate March in Chicago. Her works have been selected into festivals and screened in iconic theaters such as Gene Siskel Film Center, Music Box Theater, Block Museum in Chicago, IL.

In Yanyi Xie's works, people's daily lives, every word and action, and subtle expressions all become the subjects of her capture. Within the strong realism, she excavates a corner of private images that can resonate with all audiences, discussing deeper themes such as family, longing, vulnerability and contradictions in intimate relationships, changes in personal identity, and pursuits. Whether it is images of parents in their hometown, quarrels and reconciliations between couples, or self-expression of queer communities, we can read about others and ourselves through each character.

About 13 Hours:

13 Hours is a work planned by Yanyi during the pandemic. As a student who has lived in the United States for seven years, she has not returned to her home country for three years since the summer of 2020 due to soaring ticket prices and strict epidemic prevention policies. In the fall of 2021, she began asking her parents to document their daily life in Chengdu and share it with her. Her father recorded their visits to parks, trails, and nearby towns on weekends, while her mother documented family dinners with visiting relatives.

For academic reasons, she moved to Chicago during the pandemic. With limited contact with the outside world, she spent a lot of time indoors. Watching the videos sent by her parents in Chicago, her longing for home grew stronger. Camera lenses and video calls became the bridge for her to get closer to her parents. Subsequently, she began documenting her daily life in her apartment, using a similar approach to express her longing.

She edited the footage recorded at different locations and at the same time, attempting to merge her world and her parents' world. This is a private film about the desire for family members to be together. Through her personal perspective, Yanyi hopes to reveal the commonalities of living in a world full of differences.

Daily scenes are where life takes place. Just as Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire captures the various facets of life and people's ordinary thoughts and concerns in Berlin from a God's-eye view, it is the countless anonymous fragments of life that allow us to feel the joys and sorrows of the human experience. The videos sent by Yanyi's parents are a way for her to get a glimpse into their lives, a helpless yet intimate experience facilitated by communication technology. All the images seem both strange and familiar, like revisiting old haunts; the house's decor has not changed, and it's the place where she grew up, while her parents' lifestyle remains unaltered.

The dual narrative approach allows for a contrasting depiction of life in Chengdu and Chicago, as well as the artist's own and her parents' different lifestyles, while the shared warmth between the two locations is connected through editing. The parks in Chengdu are already lush with greenery, while the artist's shots in Chicago often feature silent, solitary indoor scenes in the desolate winter. Yet in the conversations emanating from her parents' sunlit room, one can hear their meticulous concern for their daughter, and the video calls convey the mother's candid expressions of longing. As the two cities and people are connected, familial love overflows with thoughts and signals.

13 Hours was created during the pandemic era marked by the resurgence of nationalist sentiments. As she continues to maintain a private relationship spanning opposite ends of the globe, Yanyi hopes to connect audiences of different backgrounds and cultures through the universal empathy of love and family, bridging the divide between different worlds. Like her other works, Yanyi uses personal narratives to reflect the themes of a larger group, expressing her own values.

Part 2 Q/A

Q:Yangyang Annie Li

A:Yanyi Xie

Q: When you first asked your parents to shoot daily videos, was it simply for them to share their lives with you, or did you already have the idea of incorporating these clips into your work?

A: Before embarking on this project, my parents frequently sent me casual videos and photos of their daily lives without any specific purpose in mind. When the concept for this project emerged, I requested that they record longer and more cohesive videos documenting their everyday activities, although I was unsure how to integrate these videos into my work at the time. Over the course of several months, I watched the videos on a weekly basis, reviewed their content, and discussed with my parents what they wanted to film and what I hoped to capture. Gradually, we determined the shooting style and content for these daily videos together.

Q: The warm and affectionate scenes in 13 Hours resonate with many audiences from diaspora communities. What kind of empathy for family relationships and understanding of broader social themes do you hope the audience will gain from this work?

A：I believe people can easily connect with the themes of family and relationships with parents, possibly because of personal experiences. I am not sure precisely what my film will make the audience think or feel. However, I have been moved by the stronger-than-expected emotional responses from viewers. Regarding broader social themes, I hope that my work enables the audience to re-examine the hostility arising from ideological differences in news and social media through my perspective as an outsider, a departee, and someone who inhabits the 'cracks' between societies, considering these issues from a daily-life perspective.

展览现场

Q: Like 13 Hours, your video works often use personal experiences, relationships, and emotions to explore broader sociocultural themes. What is the reason behind choosing this highly personal creative approach? What role do everyday life scenes play in your works? How do you think personal narratives resonate with the audience?

A：While creating this film, I was deeply influenced by the works of Belgian director Chantal Akerman. Her documentaries contain numerous personal footages of everyday life. One of the primary reasons I chose to focus on this theme was my move to Chicago during the pandemic. With limited contact with the city and community, it was challenging to create a work centered on the outside world. I spent most of my time at home, having many conversations with my parents, making this theme a natural choice for me. Through the film's editing, I aim to illustrate the connections between my parents and me by juxtaposing similarities in our daily lives.

I opted for a personal narrative perspective to convey this theme because I am not accustomed to discussing recent social and political issues from a broader viewpoint. I feel that such an approach is better suited for academic research tasks, and the nature of documentaries, which can easily introduce bias for the audience, makes me believe it was not the best approach for me at that time. Thus, I chose to begin from a personal perspective.

Secondly, from my own perception, the impact of events such as COVID-19 related policies primarily manifests on a personal level. Therefore, addressing this theme from a private perspective more accurately reflects my inner feelings.

展览现场

Q: One of the core aspects of your video works is the exploration of personal identity and gender themes. How do you see the status and impact of these themes in today's society? Do you believe that video works can help promote discussion and ideological transformation regarding personal identity and gender themes?

A：In North America, there is a significant degree of creative freedom for Queer-themed work, and many of these works have profoundly impacted me both creatively and personally. While we still exist within a heteronormative society, and these works remain far from mainstream, there has been an increasing representation of diverse sexualities in mainstream media in the United States, which I believe is a positive development.

I think that all cultural products, including video arts, literature, drama, and painting, can contribute to changing people's perceptions. In my creative process, I begin from a personal perspective and focus more on expressing an individual voice. If every voice can be expressed, it will promote broader social impact. For the audience, encountering these works may trigger changes in individual perceptions, which can, in turn, influence the ideology of a larger population.

《时差》正于洛杉矶4C Gallery群展“The Heart of Home”展出

13 Hours is currently on view in the group exhibition “The Heart of Home” at 4C Gallery, Los Angeles

展期：2023.4.8 - 2023.4.29

开幕：2023.4.8  6-9 PM

地址：4C Gallery,160 W Valley Blvd, San Gabriel, CA  91776

作者：黎扬扬