'Dog Days' is American filmmaker's Chinese debut

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American filmmaker Jordan Schiele makes his Chinese debut on Friday with "Dog Days" (San Fu Tian), which tackles issues that single mothers and LGBT people face in China.

It is the first entirely Chinese film written and directed by an American to have a national release in China.

“The most positive thing that has come out of this is there is an audience willing to see this film,” Schiele told CGTN Digital when we spoke with him the night before the film’s release. "It gives me affirmation that I am not a complete outsider."

“Dog Days” explores another side of parenting in modern-day China — the difficulties of and stigma attached to solo motherhood. It also casts an eye on some of China’s most pressing issues — among them the impact of its one-child policy and the disparity between the affluent cities on the east coastal regions and the less privileged interior.

Chen Tian Mu as Bai Long in "Dog Days." / Making Film Production

On the home front

Schiele said that the international distributor for “Dog Days” – the Hong Kong-based Bravo Pictures – wanted to release the film in Chinese mainland before screening abroad.

“It is a Chinese film that should first reach a Chinese audience,” he said.

While he does agree with the distributor, Schiele does feel the film will introduce audiences in China to something new.

“Dog Days” is about a very specific world that even many Chinese people have not seen. "When the film first screened in Berlin, there were several Chinese at the screenings who asked if they were shooting in a studio. It was a lot of young Chinese people who had never seen these places,” he told CGTN Digital. “They were surprised to see these kinds of locations in China.”

Schiele said the film was shot in a suburb of Changsha, in China’s central Hunan Province.

“Maybe they thought since I was a foreigner creating the image of how I see China,” Schiele said. “It was remarkable to me to think … the film is gritty and is not something that can be created in a studio so that surprised me.”

"Dog Days" movie poster. / Making Film Production

Lucky dog

The first-time director assembled a cast of emerging stars in China to bring what he calls a “gritty” film to life. Huang Lu, who was in “Apolitical Romance” and “Blind Massage," joins Luo Lanshan, first seen in “A Touch of Sin,” to offer performances that Screen Daily calls the “most resonating element” of the film.

Schiele’s producer for “Dog Days” is Hong Kong indie-filmmaker Pang Ho-cheung who made “Love in a Puff” and “Aberdeen.”

The New York-born filmmaker said he is positive there is an audience in China willing to see this film.

“I was always worried about not being accepted,” Schiele told CGTN Digital. “I have always felt welcome here.”

Jordan Schiele writer and director of "Dog Days" at film's world premiere at Berlinale Film Festival. / Brigitte Dummer

Made in China

Outsider or not, he would like to continue working in China.

“I’m almost done with my next script which is much more related to my first experience in China,” Schiele said. “It’s a comedy drawing a lot from my own personal experience.”

Schiele’s relationship with China dates back to 2004 when he was an undergraduate college student studying Chinese. He admits his Chinese did not get really good until he moved to China.

The Beijing-based filmmaker is a cinematographer by training who was educated at NYU’s Tisch campus in Singapore.

"Dog Days" director Jordan Schiele (2nd from right) with producer Pang Ho-cheung and cast members at a press conference in Beijing. / Making Film Production

Bridge builder

Schiele said he would ultimately "like to be a bridge between China and the US in filmmaking." For “Dog Days” he assembled a majority Chinese crew for the production.

With a world premiere at the prestigious Berlinale Film Festival and the backing of the Cannes Cinefoundation, his feature debut is ready for its historic exhibition in China.

Regardless of how the film does at the box office, Schiele has already recognized his own growth for future projects.

“I think as a young person, you are very opinionated. A lot of your concerns end up being similar to those of other people. I think in terms of my creative career, it helps you focus your attention on subjects that are related to more people,” he told CGTN Digital. “I can see more people [relating] to what I am doing.”