Showing his movie outside of China represents a huge accomplishment for Director Roger XUE. When creating the short film, “Go Class” as a graduation project in 2020, he thought that the pandemic would never allow him to put his movie on the screen.

Interviewer : How do you feel in Hiroshima city ?

Director XUE : "A lot of citizens in Japan, in Tokyo, I mean Osaka or Kyoto, when you look at people on the street, there’s always a lot of tiredness. But I would say that here in Hiroshima, I saw people, you know, a lot of students gathering together. They seem to have a happy time. So, yeah, that’s my impression of Hiroshima."

Interviewer: “Go Class” has a distinctive look, particularly the choice to shoot in black and white. What’s the meaning behind this decision ?

Director XUE:"The story about bullying was just a plot twist. I mean, you noticed that everything, including the Go game, is in black and white. The point is to show that there’s more in life than just winning or losing. It’s not just good or bad things in life; we need to see more nuance in life."

Interviewer: That’s a powerful message of hope, especially after the lonely Covid period. Was it difficult to achieve this vision, especially with the challenges of black-and-white filmmaking?

Director XUE: "Shooting in black and white was really hard to achieve sometimes. On set, I questioned myself many times whether I should shoot another extra shot or not to make it clearer. But I think I made the right decision not to shoot an extra shot."

Interviewer : After overcoming all these difficulties, is there any new project coming soon ?

Director XUE: "No, I’m normally working on commercial TV. I want to acquire some experience in the field, especially because it’s hard today for young people to make a name for themselves. So I want to gain experience before diving into this type of project again."

Interviewer: That makes sense. Before we finish, would you have any advice or messages for the next generation of filmmakers at the Hiroshima International Film Festival?

Director XUE :“I would definitely recommend this festival, especially for young people who are starting out in the field or who wants to export abroad.”

Interview by Manon BAUER