Behind Her Film: SWIFF Film Sessions Podcast Interview with Director MAO Yu Lynn Yuan
- Editor
- Aug 3, 2023
- 13 min read
Updated: Aug 21
August 3, 2023 (New York, United States) - The Film Sessions Podcast, powered by SWIFF (Student World Impact Film Festival), invites Director MAO Yu Lynn Yuan in an episode to share the stories and filmmaking experiences behind her film. In the 18-minute inspirational interview podcast, MAO Yu Lynn Yuan elaborates on the origins of starting her film career, reasons to choose Gender Equality as the topic in her first award-winning film (Mermaid in the Garden of Escapism), and recommendations to aspiring student filmmakers in Film Sessions Podcast of SWIFF, one of the largest student film festivals in the world that empowers filmmakers in 120 countries.
"Being an entrepreneur, a designer, and an investor is all about bringing an idea to life and getting it off the ground. That's what we call a dream maker role. As a film director, you are also doing the same, creating dreams for the audience through your visions. Also a dream-maker role. I feel quite satisfied when I see somebody's dream-come-true moments. Including mine," the female film director, MAO Yu Lynn Yuan, talks about her shift from business to film and their origins in the interview story.
"Film is like taking a journey for me to explore the world we live in. Gender equality, classism, and the Eastern and Western cultures are the topics centring around my next film projects. So, a lot of explorations in binary opposition, as you hear in the topics." MAO Yu Lynn Yuan continues to talk about her future plans in commercial films. "I actually financially fund and support all my film work myself for now. I've been preparing for my next film project this summer. Another independent film champions gender equality as well. Hopefully, I’ll move forward to make commercial ones when I think I’m ready to move forward that far in the next game round. It could be similar to incubating and investing in an early-stage unicorn-to-be film project and bringing it round to round on a much larger scale. Commercial films are more like doing a perfect blending of the arts and business, which could be very challenging in the years to come for me to expect."
The interview episode is released to the public with free access and available in Spotify, iHeart Radio, Audible, Amazon Music, Apple Podcast, and Google Podcast.
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iHeartRadio:
About SWIFF (Student World Impact Film Festival)
The Student World Impact Film Festival (SWIFF) is the premier platform for showcasing the artistic talent of student filmmakers from around the world. Helping more than 10,000 filmmakers from 120 countries each year, SWIFF's engaging film screening, inspirational speakers, and awards ceremony make it an engaging experience for participants interested in the art and impact of film.
About Film Sessions Podcast
The Film Sessions™ Podcast features accomplished filmmakers who discuss their films and filmmaking journeys. This podcast is hosted by the Student World Impact Film Festival (SWIFF), one of the largest student film festivals in the world that is empowering filmmakers in 120 countries.
Website: www.lightfilmfest.org
About MAO Yu Lynn Yuan
MAO Yu Lynn Yuan has worked as an entrepreneur, an investor, and a creative director for over ten years before being recognized as a director in film. Taking films as her journeys to explore the world and the existence of individuals, Lynn's film topics revolve around gender equality, classism, and Eastern and Western cultures. Her first award-winning short, Mermaid in the Garden of Escapism, pioneers the use of merging new technologies in film production by using AI (artificial intelligence) in voiceover throughout the film.
Website: www.maoyulynnyuan.com
Excerpts from the interview:
Film Sessions Podcast: Inspirational Interview with MAO Yu Lynn Yuan
On this episode of the Film Sessions Podcast, we are excited to feature MAO Yu Lynn Yuan:
MAO Yu Lynn Yuan is a female writer-director and producer in film. Being a China-born and Canada-raised grownup, her explorations in film center around gender equality, classism, and Eastern and Western cultures. MAO Yu Lynn Yuan’s very first award-winning experimental short film, Mermaid in the Garden of Escapism (2023), humbled laurels in international film festivals with two awards and ten nominations. The pioneering artistic choice of using AI voices in the film draws public attention to the lack of women’s voices in terms of gender equality.
This episode was hosted by Moises Rijo, a Podcast Host at the Student World Impact Film Festival, and produced by Mark Leschinsky, the Festival Director of the Student World Impact Film Festival.
Film Sessions Podcast: Welcome to the Film Sessions Podcast. Today we are excited to feature MAO Yu Lynn Yuan (Hopefully I didn't get that too wrong). If you would like to introduce yourself to us real quick?
MAO Yu Lynn Yuan: Okay, sure. Thank you. Pleasure to be invited here today. Hello, everyone—all you Film Sessions Podcast audience. My name is Mao Yu Lynn Yuan. Mao is actually my last (name), also the family name. Chinese call the family name first.
So I keep it this way in my film work. You can also call me Lynn. I'm a China-born, Canada-raised writer-director and producer.
Film Sessions Podcast: If I may ask about your origins: what inspired you to get started in filmmaking? Was it a person that introduced you to it? Was it a movie or a show that you watched and you were enamored with how they shot things or how they edited things? Or a moment where you just like knew, “This is what I want to do”?
MAO Yu Lynn Yuan: I think it could be everything that I have worked with in the past. It all leads to a film director role in me for some reason. There was a time when I started to pay attention to myself, to other people, and to the world we live in after the COVID lockdowns. It seems like a naturally happening moment for me to become a female film director, to bring my observations, visions, and thoughts to the world as a female, a woman. So prior to stepping into film with my first one, I have been working as an entrepreneur, creative director, designer, investor, and many other roles to name in over hundreds of products over the past 10 years across industries from fashion, arts, lifestyle, real estate, venture capital, and more. So I was lucky enough to ground my technical skills in filmmaking in relevant projects and also observe a variety of human nature in different life circumstances a lot. So being an entrepreneur, a designer, and an investor is all about bringing an idea to life and getting it off the ground. That's what we call a “dream maker” role. So as a film director, you are actually also doing the same, creating dreams for the audience and your visions. Also a dream maker role. So I feel quite satisfied when I see somebody's dream-come-true moment—including mine.
Film Sessions Podcast: That is a very comprehensive way of deciding to do something. So you actually found a way to incorporate your background as an entrepreneur in all these different fields into your passion of filmmaking. That’s unique. That is certainly a perspective that I wasn’t sure I’d ever consider. Wow! Excuse me a bit. Not just me. But, it was just wow! That’s very interesting. Because then, I guess this question, you could have answered it in a million different ways, but—how have you continued your journey in filmmaking? I’m assuming there has been many obstacles that you’ve had to put up with. If there’s just like one of the note or just like thematically something that’s always been a problem for you, whether it’s time, or just being able to get actors or a crew together. What obstacles would you say you put up with to continue filmmaking?
MAO Yu Lynn Yuan: Film is more like taking a journey for me to explore the world we live in. Gender equality, classism, and the Eastern and Western cultures are the topics centering around my film work in the next move—so a lot of explorations of the binary oppositions as you hear in the topics. I actually financially fund and support all my film works myself for now. Been preparing my next film project this summer: another independent film champions gender equality as well. Hopefully I’ll move forward to making commercial ones when I think I’m ready to move forward that far in the next game round. Then, it could be similar to incubating and investing in an early-stage unicorn-company-to-be film company, film project, and bringing it round and round for a much larger scale. Commercial films are more like doing a perfect blending in both business and arts, which could be very challenging in the next years to come for me to expect.
Film Sessions Podcast: Wow. So you actually put forth your own budget and stuff the whole nine yards?
MAO Yu Lynn Yuan: Yes.
Film Sessions Podcast: That’s impressive, I must admit. Because so many times when I interview people, they…if it’s not money, it’s the resource allocation…that they always have a problem with or which they could do better with. Like post making the film. So it’s interesting to see where you’re coming in from a different perspective and you have different concerns and you’re trying to levy that with what you wanna promote and what you wanna do. Very interesting. Alright. Enough needing out about how your production scene is. Introduce us to your film! Tell us the name and what it’s about, the synopsis, if I may.
MAO Yu Lynn Yuan: Sure. Mermaid in the Garden of Escapism is an experimental short film about a mermaid woman struggling with different social values and exploring her own values in a surreal place, the garden of escapism. So there are a lot of expressions and elements of postmodernism. In my film, we see the mermaid woman in different spaces with different beauty-related subjects, which are commonly associated with the values of a woman. In the first and last movie scenes, we see the mermaid woman in the Garden of Escapism, where it is like a liminal space. A liminal space is like a surreal place where you are either here or there in a transitional period. She finds her peace in the place where values are not constructed externally but internally within herself. The values of women are not a set of answers in my film, but a question for the audience to explore and relate to themselves.
Film Sessions Podcast: So, using that, what is it that you want your audience to come away with when they watch the movie? Because it’s mentioned you want them to question exactly what you brought up, which is the values we impose upon ourselves and we impose upon women. Is it just that message that you want us to come away with, or is there a theme or a feeling you want us to capture as we walk away from your film?
MAO Yu Lynn Yuan: Not really. I don’t like drawing boxes in somebody’s mind. I would say it's more about the attention drawn to women's values and gender equality. It’s not about how women look or function in roles like daughter, wife, mother, and grandmother, or girlfriend, but rather about how a woman thinks, speaks, and does, as an individual. So, there is a lack of women’s voices in our society—either in the east or in the west, rich or poor. It’s the same bad circle in a patriarchal social system for long. The use of female AI voices, well, the artificial intelligence voices, is also an ironic reflection of the lack of women's voices—even from the ancient times. So in my background script choice, I chose to use the Lord Alfred Tennyson’s work, The Mermaid, written back in the 1830s.
Film Sessions Podcast: So you use AI voices—was that a choice you made before hand? Like was that the idea you came up into the mind when you started working on the Mermaid in the Garden of Escapism? Or, was that something you accidentally came across and decided to implement, figuring it would kind bolster the thing you’re trying to promote or the attention you’re trying to bring to the whole issue?
MAO Yu Lynn Yuan: This is the artistic choice from my end. It didn’t come at the very beginning while I first started working on this film. This came later. And, it actually works pretty well.
Film Sessions Podcast: Theoretically, it sounds like it fits. You mentioned the juxtaposition between removing voice and then using…about how women’s voices are used (excuse me)…and then implementing an AI voice which people would typically perceive as voiceless, lifeless, sort of detached. Theoretically, that works. It sounds very very ideal for what you’re trying to promote. So, if I may ask—to be honest, you’re quite comprehensive with the production behind what you did, so I don’t think we have to push on that. Your other films, if you have made films before, what were they looking like? Were they projects that you kind of just did to get comfortable with filmmaking, or were they projects you did—you just went into knowing, “This is what I want to do. I’m in my space, I know my genre, I know how I work, so I’m starting my filmmaking career here”, sort of? Was it a more casual way that you made these films before hand? Or, were you attacking this with a severity, “I have like knowing I want this to mean something”?
MAO Yu Lynn Yuan: Well, the Mermaid in the Garden of Escapism is actually my very first short film. Hopefully I get the chance to introduce my next short in the year 2024 and then I could be working on my very first feature film as a third piece before 2025. So even though I’ve been working with quite like multiple projects in the past ten years, but this is really my official first piece to the audience.
Film Sessions Podcast: That’s amazing. Wow. Alright, so I guess the more interesting question then is that—what does the storyboard of your career look like? Like if there’s nothing you have in store right now in terms of projects you’re working as we speak, is there a pie in the sky dream or a goal of something you eventually want to do—whether it’s like a director, editor, producer, whatever it may be? What’s your future like starting from today?
MAO Yu Lynn Yuan: Well. My next film as a writer-director role is on the line. Like I’ve mentioned before, it is also about gender equality. It will pay attention to the values of males through the social gaze this time. So this is what can be expected from my works in the next few months or years.
Film Sessions Podcast: Ok, alright. So I’ll leave this question a bit later. I like asking it because it gives me a peek into the mindset—how people, how filmmakers think. Before we get there, what is a resource that you would recommend to other student filmmakers? Whether it’s having a person or a group of people as a support system, like an assistant to keep you on track or just to get you motivated and keep you in line. If it’s a program, application, platform, or website, an actual tool (like a camera), whatever, maybe a vice microphone—what would that one resource be that you would recommend to others?
MAO Yu Lynn Yuan: Quite a few things I’d like to note. So, for equipment, students don’t have to aim high for the best Hollywood standards at the beginning. Because it costs you an arm and a leg (No, just kidding). Top cinematic equipment like Arri, Panavision, and Red. Those are like very expensive. Either to buy or rent. Even Arri’s most budget-friendly video camera line, Alexa, will cost you over $100k and could be even worth like $50k second-hand or more. So, not affordable choices for students. Alternatively, we can rent and try different models at rental stores like Vistek in Canada. Or, any other equipment rental companies in their city or schools with good discount offers are like normally available in store. Also, getting used to different video cameras is also part of the process of finding your own aesthetic style based on the expression of your film. Because, end of the day, a film is not about creating beautiful visuals—but about well telling a story.
For the people you work with—actors, producers, cinematographers, editors, so many other roles to name in a production crew. Sometimes, you may need to wear multiple hats in all those roles here and there. Knowing and selecting the right people to form a good team is also key. I would pick the ones with a responsible personality over everything else. As teamwork matters the most. Last-minute cancellations or no-shows for any role are always disasters that can cause big troubles and financial losses for a film production.
I appreciate the critiques received on evaluating the film as well—either from a festival, a film critic, or a random viewer, positive or negative. I personally like noting down certain critics, especially the negative ones from a neutral counting angle. They are actually very valuable resources for film directors to grow the next project and see your own works from another individual’s perspective—which is not quite easy.
And last, I would say reading is the key to helping young filmmakers grow the most. Especially to the ones who aim to be the writer-director role. Film is your vision. How you see the world, and how you communicate your story about your vision. So this is the core value for most films. For young filmmakers, you can observe and experience a variety of stories by reading and watching films. Knowledge and case studies in psychology and sociology will also help you get a deep understanding and real observation of human nature—well, the people—which makes for a good story of complexity in your film.
Film Sessions Podcast: I will admit you actually answer the next question quite well. So, I guess, all I have to do is real quickly—what’s your favorite movie, if you have one?
MAO Yu Lynn Yuan: I don’t really have a favorite movie, but there are certain directors I watch—like Ang Lee, the one who directed Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and Brokeback Mountain. I see a subtle blending beauty of the Eastern and Western culture in his film works, which I love about it.
Film Sessions Podcast: I’ve heard about Brokeback Mountain, and I must admit the other ones—I haven’t heard of before. I’m gonna have to check them out when I can.
MAO Yu Lynn Yuan: You should.
Film Sessions Podcast: Yeah, I will. Haha! One last thing before you go. Social media handles. So, we can find your past projects, what stuff you’ve done, what you’re gonna work on, updates on what you’re working on, and where can we find your film once it’s done making this run at the festivals?
MAO Yu Lynn Yuan: I don’t use social media a lot. Any news of my works can be found on my website, which you can easily search online for that. And the film is not available for now, either offline or online. I may choose one film festival for its premiere later this year.
Film Sessions Podcast: Alright, cool. Thank you. So with that, that’ll be all. Thank you for being on the Film Sessions Podcast today, Lynn. That was very great, detailed explanation of how you came to be and how you do things. I appreciate you for your time. I have nothing else for you. All I can say is, have a blessed successful future.
MAO Yu Lynn Yuan: Thank you so much. It’s a pleasure of mine for being here today as well.
