{"id":44381,"date":"2024-05-03T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-03T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lepetitseptieme.ca\/?p=44381"},"modified":"2024-05-02T22:18:31","modified_gmt":"2024-05-03T02:18:31","slug":"hot-docs-xixi-the-price-of-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lepetitseptieme.ca\/en\/2024\/05\/03\/hot-docs-xixi-the-price-of-freedom\/","title":{"rendered":"[Hot Docs] XiXi \u2013 The price of freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cWhat does freedom mean to you?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Wu_Fan\"
Fan Wu<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

XiXi<\/em> is a heartfelt essay film exploring womanhood, autonomy and the power of self-reinvention. Its story revolves around the director Fan\u2019s friendship with XiXi, a captivating performer Fan met in Berlin. Drawn to her unique style and her Chinese roots, Fan discovers a dormant desire in herself to break free from the path of life that is expected. As the years pass, she observes the consequences of XiXi\u2019s free-spirited nature\u2014initially endearing but eventually troublesome. Through intimate video diaries and glimpses into the women\u2019s daily lives, the film explores intergenerational wounds and challenges entrenched beliefs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With XiXi<\/em>, Fan Wu offers a film that provokes a dialogue on accepted social values and their impact on the most intimate existence of each individual, while questioning what the notion of freedom means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is freedom exactly?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

At the heart of XiXi<\/em> is the great question of freedom. And here, I have to admit, it’s not easy for a Quebecer to put himself in the shoes of the woman in this documentary. The differences between Western culture and the various Asian cultures are great, and with China, this is even truer. My other challenge is to separate the value of this documentary from my opinion of the protagonist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"XiXi
The film travels in between the realities and inner worlds of XiXi and director Fan<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the movie, with its very artistic visuals that allow us to get even deeper into XiXi’s head, we follow this woman who is trying by all means not to be like her mother, not to be the “little Chinese girl” that society would like to see. And to achieve this, she is in constant search of freedom. Her freedom as a woman, her freedom as an artist, her freedom as a person. But as the beautiful and dark images follow one another, the question that haunts the viewer, and eventually the artist herself, is this: if you want total freedom, don’t you end up putting yourself in a cage?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, we see the character evolve from a selfish woman in search of her freedom, to an increasingly broken woman, who realizes that this so-called freedom comes at a price. At the heart of this questioning is XiXi’s daughter. At the start of the film, we understand that the mother has abandoned her daughter in order to live out her longed-for freedom. And that, for me, is where the difficulty of remaining objective lies. How is it possible for me, who puts taking good care of my children at the top of my list of values, to respect this woman? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Especially since the moments when she’s with her little one, it’s heartbreaking to see how bright-eyed the child is when she’s with her mother. But every time, it ends in disappointment. To present some of these moments, the director uses material shot by XiXi, who was also documenting her life. This scene is particularly beautiful and touching. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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