Gao Qisheng, the director and screenwriter of the feature length narrative film River of Salvation, believes in the immeasurable wealth of the human spirit. A listener of stories from ordinary people, he loves the emotional depth they convey and the fated outcomes in each one of them. River of Salvation is completely fictional. However, every character, the plot and other details in the story, borrows from his environment, including his family and friends, who are extraordinary people.
By Nefeli Soteriou for Winter Film Awards
See the World Premiere of feature film River of Salvation on Sunday February 23 @ 3:45 PM at Cinema Village (22 East 12th Street) as part of New York City’s 9th Annual Winter Film Awards International Film Festival.
It is said that to become a film director, it is either accidental or inevitable. To Qisheng, film is the love of his life. He is thankful to God for providing his talent and opportunities to realize his dreams. “The reason I chose to create River of Salvation is because I care for the struggles of the marginalized people, for their lives and the choices they make. I hope that the audience can understand that although we can face too many curveballs throughout our lives, we can handle them. There is hope in the distance, just like a river of spring water rushing to the sea”.
The director spent half a year writing and modifying the script and began to audition for actors towards the completion of the screenplay. The selection of the leading actress was relatively smooth – Yanxi Li (Rong) – but it took a long time to select the male protagonist. He met a lot of young actors; none of them was suitable. Eventually after he selected Kangli Zhu (Xiaodong), he rented a three-bedroom house, which, in the movie, is the home of Rong. They all lived together. During the day, actors went out separately. Yanxi Li, needed to learn the technique of foot massage therapy. At night, they rehearsed the important plots of the film. Occasionally, Qisheng and his actors went to a restaurant to eat a delicious meal or to a theater to watch a movie and to cultivate a better relationship.
Gao Qisheng refused investors’ assistance in order to be absolutely free to express his vision in his movie; he covered all production costs. Through hard work and frugality, even by mortgaging his house, River of Salvation was successfully completed. Due to budget constraints, the production was divided into three stages. The first and second production phase took place in February and in April of 2018; he filmed the heroine at home and at work respectively. The last stage was in February 2019. The span of film shooting was about fifty days. Aside from the cast, the director hired a basic crew set-up, brought a producer on board, a cinematographer and an audio recorder.
One unexpected challenge Gao faced was young Kangli Zhu’s concern that he wouldn’t portray the character realistically, as his background was vastly different. But after three months of rehearsing the key parts with the rest of the cast, he fulfilled his role wonderfully. Gao Qisheng is tentatively preparing a new project around the issue of depression and he is hopeful to be able to present an even better film to audiences.
Nefeli Soteriou
Nefeli Soteriou’s background is in Film and Media Arts, Creativity Coaching with Coaching Psychology, Behavioral Coaching for Mental Health, and Education. With significant, real-world experience as a Life Coach and Filmmaker, she specializes in helping filmmakers with every aspect of the filmmaking life, from completing unfinished films to handling the stresses and pressures that they face.
About Winter Film Awards
New York City’s 9th Annual Winter Film Awards International Film Festival runs February 20-29 2020. Check out a jam-packed lineup of 79 fantastic films in all genres from 27 countries, including shorts, features, Animation, Drama, Comedy, Thriller, Horror, Documentary and Music Video. Hollywood might ignore women and people of color, but Winter Film Awards celebrates everyone!
Winter Film Awards is an all volunteer, minority- and women-owned registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in 2011 in New York City by a group of filmmakers and enthusiasts. The program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the NY State Council on the Arts.
