Twenty-nine-year-old Livi Zheng should be proud.
Her latest film, Bali: Beats of Paradise, premiered to a packed house at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences last week for its world premiere screening. With so many high-power individuals in the audience, including the Consulate General of Malaysia, diplomats from Bolivia, Kenya, Thailand, Myanmar, and the UCLA Chancellor Gene D. Block, it was clear that Bali: Beats of Paradise, which is a beautiful blend of sound and color, has worldwide appeal. In our exclusive interview, we talk about her career jump from a stunt woman to a director and celebrate her hometown opening its very first movie theatre. We begin:
Introducing Gamelan Music to the West.
Unless you’re a composer or studying Gamelan music, you wouldn’t really know about it. That’s why I wanted to make this film in the first place.
As an Indonesian, I knew a little about Gamelan but its history isn’t taught in school. You’ll hear it at weddings, celebrations, and things like that. Indonesia has over 17,000 islands with all different types of dialects, so it’s very rich in culture. I come from East Java, so going to Bali was a totally different experience for me. If you’re Balinese, you cannot live your life without Gamelan music. When you’re born, when you become a teenager, when you get married, and even when you pass away, Galeman is present.
Courtesy of Inzonesia
Going from stunt woman to director.
I’ve always done martial arts since I was young, and at 15-years-old I studied at the same school in Beijing as at Jet Lee. I always had an interest in film, so I started to get work as a stunt woman, but I realized that I wanted to be a director so I could be in charge of the story. As a stuntwoman, it was really fun but you’re always hired to [tell] someone else’s story. I wanted to do something about that.
I went to the U.S. for school and studied economy. I thought that would be a good foundation, but I still wanted to be on film sets. I started working on student films as a director, production designer, costumes, anything! Anything to understand the industry better.
Her hometown opened its first movie theatre this year.
My whole family comes from a small city, and we didn’t have a movie theatre there until this year. So moviemaking wasn’t really a career there. Indonesia is the 4th largest country in the world and we don’t have many movie theaters. We maybe have 1,000, and in the U.S. it’s closer to 40,000.
The road to success wasn’t easy.
Growing up, I didn’t have any mentors or anybody I could ask for help. So [when I started], it was just me and my brother. My brother and I wanted to make a film- at the time, of course, not knowing how hard it is haha. So we planned to shoot our film, Brush With Danger, with just three people, borrowing my friend’s camera, you know? Also, the family of a friend of mine owns a bunch of restaurants so we were fed for free. What else do you need? Haha. I was determined to shoot it with or without a budget, I didn’t want to wait for [the money]. After that, we started getting help from people, and more funding. I hadn’t done anything prior to that, I had no other films on my resume, but it all [came together]. It got distributed internationally and I’ve been making movies ever since.
Courtesy of Buletin Dewata
Bali is a cultural mecca.
Bali culture is very interesting, their sense of community is very strong. You’re expected to contribute. So if there is an event, you’re expected to contribute in some way- whether that’s playing Gamelan, preparing food or preparing offering or decorations. Like Nyoman Wenten, who lives in the U.S., he still contributes to his community. Anytime he’s back [in Indonesia], he’ll play Gamelan.
When we were filming Bali: Beats of Paradise, I told my crew that we needed to stay with the locals. We can’t be staying in a hotel in a touristy area while trying to make a documentary about Balinese Gamelan. The whole place is super artistic- from the architecture to what people wear- it’s fascinating. Even as an Indonesian, it was fascinating.
‘Bali: Beats of Paradise’ is now playing at the Laemmle Theatre Music Hall.
