Meet Vince Li | Writer-Director

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

Hi Vince, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Because filmmaking is my way to understand and cooperate with the world, it illustrates the complex emotions of human beings and helps us reconcile with ourselves.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I came to the U.S. for college from China when I was 18. Initially, I didn’t know what to do or what to learn. I didn’t know how my future would unfold. My first step was Syracuse, a snowy, isolated world in upstate New York. The first year was a pre-college program; we didn’t really do much besides improve our English and get an introduction to liberal arts. But I kind of enjoyed this lack of direction and feeling of confusion.

However, one day, I was driving my friend around while he was using his camera to shoot some footage. We did this day after day until one day, back home, he showed me the film he was editing. It was so impressive; the footage from our daily drives, when edited together, was so poetic. At that moment, an idea sparked in my mind: I wanted to major in film.

Through a friend’s introduction, I met a fellow student studying film. I became a screenwriter and director, and our crew was only three people. We didn’t have anyone to do lighting, so we used natural light, and our shooting location was just around the school. I shamelessly asked my classmates and even my professors to be extras and actors in my film, sometimes they would even look directly into the camera. But eventually, I finished it, and in the final hours before the deadline, I submitted my application to the Syracuse University Film Major. A week later, I received a confirmation from the chair, and that’s how I began my studies in the Film Major at Syracuse University.

The first year was a bit of a struggle; many of my classmates already had several years of experience in film, but I knew nothing. So, I worked hard at school, and it was a great program. However, I felt that it focused too much on experimental cinema. In my sophomore year, I decided to transfer because I wanted to experience the film industry in a big city. The School of Visual Arts (SVA) accepted me and offered a scholarship, so I moved to New York City.

There, I studied in the classroom, but all the cinema theaters were also my classrooms. I got to watch all kinds of films, from classic art house cinema to modern indie films. Combined with my experiences at Syracuse University, all of these shaped how I view film, and I realized how much this medium can do beyond limitations.

In 2022, I made a short film at SVA with my classmates, and my first short film, “At the Sea,” luckily traveled to some American local festivals such as the Coney Island Film Festival and the Silicon Beach Film Festival. In China, it was selected for a Special Screening at the Jia Village Short Film Festival held by Zhangke Jia. After that, I felt more confident preparing my thesis film, which is a family drama between a lonely but strong-willed western cowboy woman and her son’s girlfriend, a female Chinese acupuncturist. Now I am working on the festival submission and waiting for its world premiere.

After graduation, I was grateful to intern at Atlantic Pictures and had Buzz Koenig as my mentor. I worked on sets including “A Real Pain” directed by Jesse Eisenberg and helped with pre-production of “In the Hands of Dante” directed by Julian Schnabel. These experiences were invaluable, and they have made me more determined to pursue filmmaking as my future career.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would bring him to the movie theater first, and we could have a few drinks together. Then, I’d probably take him/her on a road trip from the forest to the seaside.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to give a shout-out to all my friends who have helped me so much. I also want to acknowledge my mentors who have guided me. Lastly, I want to give a special shout-out to Rainer Werner Fassbinder for his films that inspire love and empathy.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vince_li7/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wenxiao-li-73b621182/

Image Credits
These are the BTS and some still grabs of my films.