Sabrina ZHAO
documentary / fiction / experimental / imaginary-self
Bertolt Brecht¡¯s play The Good Person of Szechwan depicts the good and evil in a woman. The film The Good Woman of Sichuan is a variation of Brecht¡¯s play about two women¡¯s journey to Sichuan. The protagonist is a local theater actor preparing an adaptation of Brecht¡¯s The Good Person of Szechwan in Leshan, but she is helpless at the intersection between fiction and reality. Her friend recently lost her husband by accident. However, it¡¯s an only blend of fluid narratives, but from the beginning of the film, the intertitle states that this is neither an adaptation nor a work of fiction, except for some lines from the play. As director Sabrina Zhao only adapts some fragments from Brecht¡¯s play, The Good Woman of Sichuan collects peripheral moments by putting a camera at the brink of time and space of the two women. The rural landscape through the window of a passing train, movement of objects, people sitting on empty benches, and the riverbank of a flowing river... When the two women murmur about alienation and confusion in a voiceover for a few minutes, their ¡°fluid feeling¡± and identity are set in Leshan. As writing a diary in a dream, it crosses the borderline between documentary, fiction, and essay film. It resonates with ever-changing existence and multiplicity. It¡¯s the first feature film by Sabrina Zhao who comes from Chengdu. [KIM Somi]
Sabrina (Ruobing) Zhao now lives between Chengdu, Abu Dhabi, and Toronto. She holds the Bachelor of Arts degree from New York University Abu Dhabi, with concentrations in Film & New Media and Literature & Creative Writing. She likes to blend documentary, fiction and the experimental.
James QIU / james.t.qiu@gmail.com