Ａｒｔｉｓｔｉｃ　Ｖｉｓｉｏｎｓ　ｉｎ　ａ　Ｃｏｍｍｅｒｃｉａｌ　Ｒｅａｌｍ.docVIP

Ａｒｔｉｓｔｉｃ　Ｖｉｓｉｏｎｓ　ｉｎ　ａ　Ｃｏｍｍｅｒｃｉａｌ　Ｒｅａｌｍ 　　 　　PRODUCER Lola Zhang calls her Yunnan New Film Project a “long march,” an apt description for a project that will require years to complete and the traversing of countless obstacles. Comprising 10 films by 10 young female directors drawn from a range of creative fields, Lola has asked each to craft a work set and shot in the tropical southern province of Yunnan. 　　So what motivated Lola to undertake such a mammoth task? She comes from a background in arts-related documentary making and conceptual photography, which may go some way to explaining her unconventional producing style. But the Yunnan project is not the first time Lola has helmed such a scheme. 　　A job at an investment company at the turn of the decade led to her formulating the New Film Project for Chinese Directors, an earlier series of 10 works designed to give emerging talent a leg-up into the industry. Lola was later inspired to take the series concept further when a shoot in Yunnan piqued her interest in the area. The province’s lush vegetation and humidity are a world away from Beijing’s desert clime. 　　The first two Yunnan films rolled off the production line last year, and have since screened at a swathe of festivals around the globe. They differ markedly in tone and style, suggesting Lola’s strategy of using directors from a variety of artistic backgrounds is paying dividends in terms of diversity. “I think when their different backgrounds combine with their films there will be some chemical reaction,” explains Lola. “This reaction is good for filmmaking, and also good for art.” 　　The Case (Xiangzi) is a startling tale of repressed small town desires by documentary filmmaker Wang Fen. After Lola whittled her initially broad list of potential directors down to 10, she took her team south and allowed the creative juices to start flowing in Yunnan’s tropical heat. On the trip Wang Fen stumbled upon a small village nestled at the foot of a mountain nea