Mothering
The Book
Watching Seas Listening to Tides
Published by the China Shandong Friendship Publishing House, Watching Seas Listening to Tides is an anthology of important interviews Wang did with China’s contemporary cultural, art and political leading figures who were guests on her TV talk show and the interview notes she wrote for each episode. It vividly reflects the excitement and the pain of the revival brought by the reform and opening up of contemporary China. With Watching Seas Listening to Tides, Wang left her passionate youthful footprints on the sands of golden time of her homeland China, while collecting these brilliant shells.
Feature Film
Forever Fireworks
After J. Wang graduated from York University in Toronto, Canada with a Master of Arts, the journalist-turned-filmmaker, went to write and direct her first feature film Forever Fireworks. The film tells the story of Joy, a Chinese Canadian teenager who on his way back to China to meet his online girlfriend, was sent to an emergency room and diagnosed with cancer. The cancer eventually killed him, however, his online love affair was carried on by fellow cancer patients who pretended to be Joy online and rescued his sad, suicidal girlfriend.
The film was exhibited in the 2008 Busan International Film Festival.
Feature Film
Perfect Baby
The inspiration of Wang’s second feature film Prefect Baby came from the misrepresentation of independent women in the modern society. J. Wang cleverly created a perfectionist, independent French poetess, Emma, who devised a "perfect blonde baby” plan through IVF. But, by way of an unforeseen error, she gave birth to a “black haired imperfect baby”. Through this accident, Emma learned that "imperfection" is actually the charm of life. The spirit of tolerance and coexistence grants life a higher dignity. J. Wang directed and shot the film in Paris, France in 2011. The film was shortlisted in International Film Festivals in England and New York, screened in the Chinese "Huabiao Film Awards”, and achieved strong box office and word-of-mouth in the Chinese cinemas. Wang was honoured with the “En Route to France Award" and "Promising Director” by The FilmFrance Commission in 2012.
Feature Film
Wolf Totem
Wolf Totem (Chinese: 狼图腾, French: Le dernier loup, "The Last Wolf") is a 2015 drama film based on the 2004 Chinese semi-autobiographical novel of the same name by Jiang Rong. Directed by French director Jean-Jacques Annaud, the Chinese-French co-production features a Chinese student who is sent to Inner Mongolia to teach shepherds and instead learns about the wolf population, which is under threat by a government apparatchik.
J. Wang joined Wolf Totem production in 2009 as one of the original founders of the project. Wang was responsible for Wolf Totem script developing, selecting screenwriter and collaborating the scriptwriting. After Wang analyzing the first script outlines of Wolf Totem from several screenwriters, the production hired Cannes Prize-winning screenwriter Lu Wei (Farewell My Concubine, 1993 ) as the screenwriter for Wolf Totem.
J. Wang, Lu Wei and the Wolf Totem novel author Jiang Rong spent months developing adaptation plan that would boil down the over 500 pages into a two-hour film script, while challenged to maintain complex cultural connotations appealing to a broad audience. Lu Wei’s first outline took three months, the revision for the second outline took four months, and the first draft script took six months to complete. In 2010 summer, Director Jean Jacque Annaud and Lu Wei couldn't reach the agreement on the revision after serval deep discussions, then, Allen Godard (Enemy at the Gate, 2001) was hired as the new screenwriter for Wolf Totem.
This multicultural writing collaboration was more focussed on creating a boarder perspective to shine the Mongolian ethnic culture on the international stage; that is, to be faithful to the original work, harmoniously integrating the interpretation from foreign eyes into the soul of the story. Allen’s first draft took a year to complete but still fell far short from the production expectation.
In 2012 spring, during the pre-production in Paris, Wang learned Allen was suffering from heart disease and sadly, passed away before delivering his next draft. Wang and Annaud continued to work on the script for numerous versions. Later, writer John Collee joined the final draft. In 2013 winter, four years after first draft script developing began, the film embarked the on set production.
Also as the chief director of Wolf Totem documentary, Wang chronicled the process of training "Star Wolf”, the lead wolf, for 3 years and recorded the toughest scenes of the winter production, marking a warm tribute for this historical masterpiece.
