Photo credit: The 3RD Vision Films
AE: The film did quite well
at the box office in Asia. How did its success
affect your life?
ZC: It did not have a great effect
as far as my creativity went, but because it was successful and made some money
for the investors, it made the next steps down the road somewhat easier.
AE: I believe you worked
with your partner, Hoho Liu, on this film; what was it like to work with her?
ZC: We are very good partners, no matter whether in life, in work or
emotionally. We have a dream — we would like to be able to make six lesbian
films in our lifetime.
AE: Oh, that's wonderful.
ZC: Because, you know, the gay and lesbian
rainbow has six colors — red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple. The color of Spider Lilies is green; my first film, Splendid Float, was yellow; my most recent film [Drifting Flowers] is red. So I have
already done three colors.
AE: Do you know what the other
three films you want to make will be?
ZC: Since we have already made three
lesbian films in a row, we felt we should stop for a while and not immediately
go on to more. Because many people have said, "Since you are lesbians, are you
only able to make lesbian films?" Of course not!
In the next three years I
will make several films that are not about gay or lesbian themes, then I will
come back to make the other three.
AE: How long have you and
your partner been together?
ZC: Eight years.
Chou and Liu
Photo credit: The 3RD Vision Films
AE: I'm not too familiar
with the status of gay people in Taiwan;
can you tell me how gays and lesbians are perceived in Taiwan in general?
ZC: Under law, of course it has not
advanced to the state where same-sex marriage is accepted. Society is
comparatively open, but there is still a very great deal of pressure from
families. Since we are Chinese people, families' opinions have a great deal of
influence. Often, families find it difficult to accept gays and lesbians.
AE: When did you come out?
ZC: 1998.
AE: And did you come out to
your family then? How did they react?
ZC: They were very surprised at
first because when I was younger I had boyfriends. But I told them it had not
been at all easy to finally find real happiness, and I could prove to them that
I was correct to take this path in my life, and they shouldn't worry about
me.
It was just like that
[laughs]. And they had to accept it.
AE: Of course [laughs]. I
wanted to ask you about your latest movie, Drifting
Flowers. What was your inspiration for writing this movie?
ZC: This movie and Spider Lilies — I wrote these two screenplays
at the same time. Because my first screenplay, Splendid Float, was a story about drag queens, afterward many lesbian
friends asked, "Why aren't there any movies about us?" [laughs] So I said,
"Give a moment and I'll write one." So I wrote two screenplays.
Spider Lilies got funding from the government first, so I shot that
one first. So after that, I made Drifting
Flowers.
