Meet Lina Li | Film Director & Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lina Li and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lina, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
First of all, my definition of an artistic or creative career is very broad. It is not just a career of filmmaker, music composer, writer, or painter, I believe that anyone with creative thinking in any field can have an artistic or creative career. Me, since my strengths are visual expression and storytelling, I use the lenses to weave the texture of the movie just like the texture of the clothes, my perception has become a tool for me as a filmmaker to pursue an artistic or creative career. I would like to create unusual and unique things or, at least, create a chance to make it happen, which makes my life full of freshness and stay positive. Each of my projects is a wonderful journey. What I enjoy the most is not just the moment on site, but to explore another’s life and a world that has no intersection with myself before starting a project. This is the privilege given to me by making movies. I can truly experience different life journeys in my limited life. In this exploration, I would listen to their stories, and of course, they would also listen to my stories. I hoped their stories will inspire me, but in the end, I discovered that what they brought me was a change in the way of my thinking and an ability to empathize. It’s not just crying after seeing or hearing touching stories, happy stories followed by laughing, but as if entering the other person’s body, thinking and acting. Looking for the rationality of all the characters and the meaning of all the stories is the reason why I pursue an artistic or creative career as a filmmaker.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I started my movie life as a film critic in 2010. My critical thinking provided me a unique vision of being a film director. My way of shooting a story was deeply influenced by philosopher Roland Barthes and Gestalt Psychology, which is interdisciplinary between cognitive psychology and iconology. However, when I was looking for a story or creating a story, it didn’t sound so rational. Most of my movies are based on or inspired by a true story. my film “Waiting for the Wind,” is under the context of the 2017 California wildfires’ natural disaster. “The concert of Life” represents a group of artists’ status quo including herself who are living a chaotic life but still insist on their dream and hope. My new movie Cranberry Chorus is about the deaf community, which is once a true existing choir made up of 10 deaf kids, the story takes place in a small town that produces cranberries. In order to restore the truest stories and characters, I learned sign language for three months and visited more than 20 schools for deaf kids. Rejected, questioned, opposed, I have encountered a lot of challenges, but I will treat these challenges as a precious experience. All of my main kid actors are cast from the deaf community, and they don’t have acting experience before, so what audiences see is their truest reactions. I hope this film will not only let more people know the true story of the Cranberry Chorus but also these wonderful kid actors!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
The best part of Los Angeles is that snowboarding and scuba diving can happen on the same day. I will definitely take my friends to the big bear snowboarding, go to San Pedro Pier to eat fresh oysters and sea ​​urchins, and then take a boat to Catalina Island to dive. But if there is only one place to go, then I will take them to a place called deep creek where 20 minutes away from the big bear. It takes 4 hours of hiking to get there. You may have unlimited emotions in these four hours, happiness, excitement, boredom, irritability, loneliness, despair, but when you reach the destination and see the amazing wild hot springs in the valley, you will let go of all your emotions, can’t wait to jump into the hot springs and become a part of nature.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I like the famous saying in The Alchemist “when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” I am lucky, I have met countless people who helped me. My family and my friends undoubtedly gave me the most support, they taught me how to be a responsible person. The USC faculties led me to the movie world, and they still gave me a lot of support after I graduated. Without my team, there would be no Lina’s Studio, we have become the people who know each other best. And thanks to all our business partners, I am very grateful for their trust.

Website: https://www.linastudioinc.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lina_yuchen_guan_li/?hl=en

Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8640549/