QUESTION#1: What about your film excites you the most?: Being able to share it with live audiences at film festivals like BSFF, and learning what resonates with different people as I'm sitting in the theatre with them. I've watched my film hundreds of time by now and no longer feel the magic of watching something for the first time, but I love when I'm at a film screening for my film and I get to hear the audience's reactions. It's even better when they come up to me after the screening and tell me how much they enjoyed it, and that it even made them cry! It means that my film connected with them across different cultures and backgrounds, and I'm proud of that.

QUESTION#2: What is it about your current movie that will influence your next film?: All the lessons that I learned, like what I could have done better. When I rewatch my film, I'm unusually honed in on the areas that I wish I could have changed, or filmed differently. Or maybe I know I missed certain shots. It's easy to kick ourselves for not knowing during production, and so we see them as major mistakes or flaws. But they're also valuable lessons for my future projects. Hey, you learn best by failing.

QUESTION#3: When you’re shooting a film, do you think of time as something you capture or something you construct?: I wish time was something I could construct, because then I would stop time and tinker on my film forever to make it perfect! Of course, perfection is the killer of completion, so it's a good thing I can't control time, or else the film would never be done!

Time is definitely something we capture. Every single moment we film is a moment that will never be repeated again at that exact time and place. We actually filmed at my mother-in-law's house, and she remodeled her kitchen right after the film shoot, so her old kitchen is now forever memorialized in my film.

QUESTION#4: What’s a limitation you wish you had on your next shoot that would force you into making interesting creative decisions?: This is a good question, because making independent films means we are always working with limitations (whether it's time, money, equipment), but we do so because we have no choice, not because we are self-imposing them!

If I had to choose a limitation that I haven't tried before to see what kind of interesting creative decisions I'd make, I'd like to try making a film where the entire story happens in one singular room, Not a single location where the protagonist can move from bedroom to bathroom in a house, but they are in the same exact room the entire time. I already have my wheels turning!

QUESTION#5: If a film shoot is like a living organism, which department do you think functions as its nervous system?: Producers. It's so important to have good producers who have your back and can solve problems/ put out fires while you're focusing on the creative aspect of filmmaking. They are your partners and emotional support buddies, and they make sure everything is running as it should on set. I used to self-produce my short films in my early filmmaking days, and I would break out into hives because of how stressful it was! Thank you to the wonderful Producers who have helped me avoid hive breakouts on my projects!

Social media tags to share with our readers: IG: @dorxiao @onlyinthisworldfilm #onlyinthisworld

5Q's w/: Dorothy Xiao "Only In This World" Director, Writer