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Yin Dawei, an accomplished director
Yin Dawei is a famous Chinese actor and director married to a Frenchwoman.
"Chinese cinema is increasingly opening up," says Yin Dawei with a lock of hair falling over his face, and his eyes full of life. He is inexhaustible when it comes to talking about cinema. The 50 year old actor and director, hailing from China's north-east province of Jilin, studied art in the army. Nothing could contrast more with the humor and eloquence of the scholar than to imagine the rigidity of the army. 
Yin Dawei was born into the world of cinema and movies. His mother was an actress and his father, Yin Yiqing, was a famous director. "Chinese films must agree with the government's ideas," he says weighing each of his words, as if he was going scene by scene through the synopsis of a film.
Married to a Frenchwoman, Yin Dawei unfortunately does not speak French. This doesn't stop him from having clear-cut opinions about the differences between Chinese and French cinemas. "The Chinese actors play, but on the outside, they are hollow. The French fully embody their character." On the other hand, China seems to have found a realistic point of view, starting thirty years ago. "After the Cultural Revolution, directors began to show the true face of China," Yin Dawei. "The image is far fairer these days."
Internationalization
Finding the right feeling is the message he gave Gong Li when she was only 20 years old. Being 7 years older, Yin Dawei, then stationed at Guangdong Art Center, was the professor of Zhang Yimou's future muse. "An army head brought us together. I immediately felt at ease with her."
He remembers: "I taught her to observe daily life. It's the only way to play with sincerity." A little later, Gong Li would embrace the international career that we know her for. She is the incarnation of the internationalization of Chinese cinema that goes along with the changes in society. "After the policy changes of Deng Xiaoping, the social regime changed, and cinema followed. The market decides now, not the state." Some success, some celebrities including Jacques Chirac and his autobiography in Chinese are only bits and pieces of Yin Dawei's career, nothing to be ashamed of. His one regret though is to not have been able to realize "his dream of cinema." Indeed, he works first and foremost for television in series like "Wenzhou in France" whose 30 episodes should be released this year in China.
10 years ago, he was about to direct a Sino-French production, based on a Chinese novel. "Everything was ready. My wife helped me a lot; I had the support of the press and of the French authorities and of many others. Even Sophie Marceau was going to be the headliner." The one problem was that the author of the novel did not want to change a single word of the book. "The cameras never even started rolling," he laments. But Yin Dawei is still hopeful. His hands are full of projects going ahead: a series taking place in 1920's China, a film about the French Foreign Legion, etc ... "I have accumulated a lot of experiences", he smiled. "I'm still young. So I can achieve all my dreams."
Practical Information:
The series "Wenzhou in France" by Yin Dawei will be presented Monday, July 19 at 3PM at the Poitou-Charentes Cinema:
15, rue de l'Ancienne Comedie BP 575, 86021 Poitiers cedex. Tel: 05 49 88 82 62 (standard)
Then it will be shown in Paris on Tuesday, August 14 at 7PM at Chinagora: 1, place du Confluent France-Chine, 94 Alfortville 140-east Paris. Tel: 01.43.53.58.88
Text: Aurélie Palancher
Photos: Wang Zhuo and Photos courtesy of Yin Dawei
July 2008
