Julia Kwan is a writer, director and producer, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Her first feature film, Eve and the Fire Horse, garnered awards and accolades internationally, including at last year's Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF), which Asian CineVision hosts in association with the Asia Society. This year's 30th annual AAIFF is scheduled July 19-28, 2008. For full schedule click here.

First of all, congratulations on all the awards and accolades you've received from the various film festivals over the past year for your first feature film, Eve and the Fire Horse. Can you tell me how this film came about and about your own childhood and how that impacted the story?

The film is inspired by two memories of my childhood. When I was five years old, my grandmother died and my father told me this really lovely story that she was reincarnated into a goldfish. It was a very kind of a lovely lyrical image for a child who can't grasp the ideas of death. I remembered that, and then when I was eight years old, I somehow ended up in summer school and I was eventually told that my grandmother was in Hell because she was a Buddhist. This film is really about a little girl with a fertile imagination trying to figure things out on her own and reconcile these two ideas and you know, figuring it out through her imagination.

The two actresses who played the two sisters did a really great job. How did you find them and what are they doing next?

I was really lucky to find them because you know, the success of this film really rests on the leads and a film can only be as good as a lead actor. I was really, really lucky, I mean we had a casting director. She basically spent six months scouring the country looking for these little girls, and there aren't a lot of experienced young Asian actors out there unfortunately because there aren't a lot of parts of them. We had to really do this grassroots, and going into the community. We had a 24-hour hotline where people could call. We went through Chinese radio and television; we went through performing arts schools and Catholic schools. And so we found Phoebe Kut who played the lead-actually, her sister saw an open casting call on Chinese television, so she came in and auditioned. And Phoebe tagged along, and her mom wrote her name down as a lark.

Hollie Lo, who played the older sister, had a friend who saw the posting at the Catholic school, and so she tagged along with her friend. We ended up hiring the two girls who kind of tagged along. They were wonderful; I mean they never had any acting experience. They actually live like ten minutes away from each other in a suburb of Vancouver. I was really lucky to find them. They're really instinctive and really wonderful kids. Hollie, the older sister, is very studious. She's working really hard, she's studying-that's her priority right now since she's in high school.

When we started, Phoebe was eight years old, and now she's twelve. Phoebe has an agent now, and she's pursuing more work. Actually, I just worked with her-I just did a little short piece. I shot it a month ago, and I gave her the lead. She's very different now; she's four years older. We've been traveling the festivals, so I took her and her mom; it was the first time she ever went to Spain. We went to Spain, Whistler, Toronto, Washington, D.C., and Seattle, and it has been really exciting for her.

The film also touches on superstitions. Are you a superstitious person and did any superstitions come into play when you were thinking of when and how to debut and release the film?

That's a good question. Our religion, our culture is really entwined with superstition, so I really grew up with that a lot. I'm trying to fight the urge and not be a slave to it, but there are things that I do. I feel a little nervous on Friday the 13th and just general superstition. One of my producers, Shan, she's from Hong Kong, and she does a ritual before the first day of production. We carried on her tradition; I think that was a little superstition on her part.

It's funny, I think it was Vivian Wu who suggested we do a lottery pool (and it would have been funny if we would have won the lottery, since the whole film was about superstition and luck). We did that and I think we won like 100 bucks or something. I try not to be a superstitious person but there are rituals in my head. Like when I fly. I do things like that I try to avoid bad luck by doing certain things. I'm not a slave to it, but you know, like it's so much in our culture that I do think about it.

How has it been having your film shown at an Asian-American venue and part of Asian-American film festivals? Have you noticed a difference in the audiences' reactions and is your own perspective different when you're screening it?

For me, it's always a joy to be screening at a North American festival. I mean I've done the whole circuit-I think I've done every single Asian-American festival last year. I can't tell you how gratifying it is in terms of the filmmakers I meet. There's this wonderful pure group of Asian filmmakers I've met over the last year and we're really, really tight. In fact, I just met up with three of them last night. I just feel like this really strong sense of community, there's so much support and it's such an exciting time.

Last year, they had ten features shown at the San Francisco, just Asian-American features. And just a few years ago, I mean that was kind of unheard of, right? So, I think we're being really prolific and it's really good material too. People are putting out really, really good films. Like Rich Wong did Colma, Georgia Lee did Red Doors. And there was The Motel [by Michael Kang], Conventioneers [by Mora Mi-Ok Stephens] and Eric Byler's films. I'm really proud to be a part of this community. In terms of showing to an Asian audience, they get the inside joke so there's always more laughter. People definitely get more of the jokes because they recognize it; it's very familiar to them, and so that's why there's a lot more laughter in certain scenes.

Can you discuss who has served as a mentor or leader during the filming of the film and beyond? Are you involved with mentoring other aspiring filmmakers?

I'd love to be able to mentor somewhere along the line, but right now I feel like it's my first feature, so it's like the blind leading the blind-when I have more experience. I'm totally a firm believer of mentorship. In fact, I had a mentor on the set for four days, this wonderful woman director that I've admired for years and she's a Quebec filmmaker. Her name is Lea Pool and she did this amazing film called Emporte-moi (Set Me Free). It was a coming of age story set in the 1960s. It was a beautiful lyrical film, and it was inspiring to me when I was writing this script. I met her a few years ago. It was a few years ago at a film festival in Paris. She had just adopted a little girl from China and named her Julia. She was missing her, and so she took me out for lunch. I have so much admiration for her. When this film came up for production, my producer managed to get a hold of her, and she loved the script. She agreed to come on for a few days. It was like having a warm blanket on the set; I felt so comforted. She has ten features under her belt. She has so much wisdom, so much experience on set, but also like this warm kind of motherly wisdom. That nurturing wisdom, that female wisdom, served me well on set. I felt really nurtured by that. She was only on for four days, but it was really a wonderful experience. I would love to be able to be an inspiration for other Asian female filmmakers out there, or anybody; I'm a firm believer in the mentor-student relationship.

How was it winning the Emerging Director award at the Asian-American International Film Festival (AAIFF) last year (it's an annual film festival that's in the third week of July), and how was the audiences reaction in New York specific to that?

Like what I was saying, there are just so many wonderful emerging directors out there right now with really strong films. I was really honored to be able to get this award because it could have gone to at least five other filmmakers that were just as worthy. I was very excited because the prize was a 32 inch flat screen television; it was so coincidental because my TV had just broken a few weeks ago, so that was very fortuitous. The audience reaction was very good. I mean like what I said, every single Asian festival I've had like amazing, amazing support and just really, really good feedback. It's been a really good experience during those festivals.

You also won the Claude Jutra Award at the Genies (the equivalent of the Oscars for Canada), given to the Best New Director. You're only the second woman and first person of color to win it. What's your reaction to that, and what does it mean for Asian-Canadian filmmakers?

Well, it means, I'm hoping, that the doors are opening. I was actually very surprised when I found out that I was only the second woman to win this award. Canada has been wonderfully supportive of all filmmakers, so it was a surprise for me. I'm hoping that at some point it's going to become a non-issue-it's not about being the ___ woman to win, it's just going to be so common that we don't have to be discussing it right now. I think it's getting there. It's exciting for me; people use the word pioneer, but I never think of myself as a pioneer. Definitely people before me I feel very inspired by the filmmakers before me like Wayne Wang and Ang Lee. Mina Shum, from Vancouver, she paved the way with a film called Double Happiness. I find inspiration with a lot of the Asian filmmakers that are out now.

How difficult was it getting the made and also getting it released? Can you discuss the process and tips you would give to other filmmakers?

Traveling with this film over the year, especially across America, I'm really beginning to appreciate living in Canada. The film was like 75% publicly funded, so we have really great support for the arts in Canada. I feel incredibly blessed. I meet all these Asian filmmakers that are always saying, "I'm moving to Canada." I feel very lucky. Of course, the pool of money is small and it's very competitive, but I was lucky enough to have these great producers who were able to be very persuasive. I think I had a strong script. It took awhile for us to cobble together the finances, but we did. I think the challenges for making a first-time feature are no different. Whether you're Asian or a woman, I think everybody faces similar challenges because you haven't proven yourself. What really helped was having a strong script, but also having a good short film to be able to show people. I would recommend people who are trying to make their first feature, just have a very, very strong short so they can show people their visual style and their storytelling skills. It really helped me in terms of getting people on board like Vivian Wu and our composer Mychael Danna. That would be my suggestion.

I'm not sure if you've seen the Actor's Studio with James Lipton. I'm going to take a cue from him and ask you a few more questions.

Oh no, those last ten?

Yes, the last ten. What is your favorite word?
Wisdom
What's your least favorite word?
No
What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
Travel
And what turns you off?
Oppression
What's your favorite curse word?
Damn it
What sound or noise do you love?
The rain
What sound or noise do you hate?
The rain
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
Well, if I wasn't squeamish, I'd love to be a doctor; and eventually, I'd love to be a novelist.
In what profession would you not like to do?
A gravedigger
And if Heaven exists what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates?
All is welcome

And before I go, I'd like to find out what are your plans for the future, what are you next working on?

I'm just helping my producers launch the DVD release in the United States. That's happening in June. So, if anybody's interested in purchasing the DVD, check out the Eve and the Fire Horse website. Sorry, I'm doing that for my producer.

I just got funding to write my next feature which I'm really excited about; it's parallel stories. Two 23-year old female cousins, one in China and one in Vancouver, are brought together by tragic events. I'm also working on a couple of other things, as well. One is like a ghost story. But, I'm really enjoying traveling right now and taking my time.

Is there anything else you would like to tell our listeners?

Support cinema and Asian cinema. Thank you.