Yao Chen was fully aware of the challenges that lay ahead when she formed Bad Rabbit Pictures out of Beijing back in 2017.
Yao remains an award-winning actress in her own right — thanks to standout performances in the likes of the Chen Kaige-directed hit Caught in the Web (2012) and the acclaimed Send Me to the Clouds (2019), as well as wildly popular TV series including All Is Well (2019). But Yao wanted to give something back to the Chinese industry, and to leverage her own fame (with an estimated social media following of around 80 million) and connections into making sure emerging art house talent in the country was given a chance.
The the company she formed with cinematographer and partner Cao Yu has gone from strength to strength, standing as a testament to their continued commitment to seeking out and supporting young talent.
This year’s Berlinale reflects that growth, with Bad Rabbit Pictures presenting the much buzzed-about competition entry Living the Land, a rural drama from writer-director Huo Meng about the socioeconomic transformation of China in the early 1990s. The company also has its first international collaboration: the Rima Das-directed, India-set coming-of-age drama Village Rockstars 2 screening in the Generation 14plus lineup. The film, which won Das the Kim Jiseok Award for emerging talent at last year’s Busan International Film Festival, continues the story of a young girl in India who dreams of forming her own rock band.
You’ll also find the Bad Rabbit-produced Village Music showcased at the company’s booth at this year’s European Film Market (EFM) in Berlin, after the Lina Wang-directed drama featured in the main competition at last year’s Pingyao International Film Festival.
“It’s a feeling of half joy, half anxiety,” says Yao with a laugh of the heavy presence Bad Rabbit has in Berlin this year. She sat down with THR via Zoom ahead of the fest to talk about the films she’s been making and the opportunities she’s exploring as Bad Rabbit continues to make a name for itself.
Has your move into producing changed the way you look at filmmaking?
It’s a very different feeling. Getting behind the scenes has impacted my way of looking at filmmaking immensely. When I’m being an actress, I only get involved in a very small part of what’s going on. So you get the script, and then you deliver the performance. Sometimes you need to do some voice dubbing, but that’s it. But as a producer, you are there from the very start, you are there through everything. You are literally like a mother, giving birth to a life form.
What was the initial motivation to branch out?
I didn’t know much about business going in. I thought if I wanted to invest in something, I should invest in people. So, Bad Rabbit has worked with young, upcoming directors, quite a few of them now over the years. With most of them, we have worked together on their first feature. Most of these directors need time for everything to sink in and to hone their skills and their patience with the market.
Is there an overriding ethos of the projects that Bad Rabbit is drawn toward?
We especially hope to make movies that can give people a sense of healing in their hearts or souls. With a gentle style, we hope that these works may focus more on compassion for individuals and care for life, which is in line with our own inner values.
There’s been quite a buzz around various Asian project markets when it comes to Living the Land. How did you come to be involved?
I first came across it when I was a judge at the Golden Rooster Festival’s project market [in 2022]. Its script won the grand prize and I just loved it. Some other judges questioned it, saying, “If you make a film like this, who can you show it to?” It was during COVID, too, and the industry was stagnant. People were out of jobs and funding was hard to find for everything, so even my colleagues at Bad Rabbit questioned our support.
‘Living the Land’
Courtesy of Bad Rabbit Pictures
What was it that convinced you to come on board?
There were two reasons. As I said, I loved the script. Although the story is about a group of people in Henan [Province], and I’m from Fujian [Province], they share similar kinds of respect for the relationship between nature, heaven and earth, humans and divine spirits. I feel I understood their connection with the land. There’s this respect for life and death, and this human concern for the individual, and I felt a strong connection toward that.
Did you know much about the director, Huo Meng?
I knew the director had made his first feature [2018’s Crossing the Border — Zhaoguan] with a budget of RMB400,000 [$55,000]. It was a very moving road movie and it was very well received in China. His second film [Living the Land] is very poetic — it unfolds like an ancient scroll with its ensemble cast. When he presented the project, he was confident and very sure about what he was doing, and that really got to me.
Village Rockstars 2 is also rural-set. Did it have a similar effect on you?
There were moments when tears were rolling down my face as I was watching the film because they just reminded me of how I grew up, my childhood. Also, there are two generations of women in this story: There is the girl, and there is her mother. Although their situations are full of misery and full of hardships, they never give up, and they never surrender to so-called fate. There are a lot of shots featuring sunlight playing a very prominent role; you see sunlight and you see people’s profile against the light and sometimes you see halos. It’s a very vibrant and hopeful kind of cinematic style director Rima Das uses, and it’s almost spiritual.
It’s also your first international project. Are you planning to push Bad Rabbit more in this direction?
In China, there is a saying: “Walking with both legs.” That’s what we are doing. On the one hand, we’re still actively seeking out potential works, projects and talents with potential at domestic film festivals. On the other hand, we’re also feeling [our] way out toward international projects and collaborators. But while selecting people and projects to work with internationally, the key is these projects shouldn’t conflict with our core values, and we would prefer more stories that focus on people caring for each other.
Have you been looking to the streaming market and to making short series?
Financial pressures have everyone talking about short series, and we’ve been looking into them. Not short-short vertical series, like you find on TikTok, but more the horizontal-screen premium miniseries with quality, with interesting story and characters like Fleabag, the British drama — that kind of short series. That’s what we are exploring now and we are developing.
Can you share anything about these new projects?
The first is a crime thriller we’re thinking of filming in my hometown, Fuzhou. It will be set in a town that’s full of life, full of hustling and bustling, but it will be about police investigating crimes. The second series will be more on the humorous and lighthearted side. It’s about the most famous goddess in Fujian — the sea goddess Mazu — but it will have a modern and urban twist.
Bad Rabbit has also supported a lot of Chinese women in filmmaking. Are there more opportunities opening up for women in China in general?
Things are beginning to happen. It’s far from completely satisfactory, but it’s beginning and that’s better than not happening at all. I think that feminism is about allowing women to become themselves, to be their true selves, and for them to have the same respect and rights as the males in society. Without focusing on gender, and treating women as individuals and focusing on their humanity, and their choices, and their emotions — that’s the kind of discussion I would like to see in future projects. I’d like to promote gender identity in an inspiring way, maybe by celebrating the quiet kind of energy that is probably the epitome of female power.
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